Fighting Paul
by sarah.yoko
Summary: Kate just moved to La Push. She befriends all the locals, and the whole town loves her. When Paul comes along and imprints on her, she wants nothing to do with him. She just wants to have an easy life. But Paul won't give up that easily. PaulxOC
1. Exiled

**A/N: Hey everyone! I know there's a lot of imprint fanfics out there, but I hate how easy it always seems to be. So I decided to make**

**things a little more difficult and hopefully a little more entertaining ;) This is my first fanfic, go easy on me!**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Aunt Julie, Kate, Kate's mom and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize!**

Chapter 1: Exiled

I woke up with a jolt as the tires of my mother's car hit a speed bump in the airport parking lot. I sat up, running a hand through my thin, light brown hair. I stretched my arms, enjoying the satisfying crack from my stiff joints, and looked at the clock on the dashboard. 3:02 AM. Ugh. This was so early it was almost unholy. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked over at my mother. Her face was blank, emotionless. I mentally sighed. I had gotten used to it over the past week or so, but it still wasn't fun being in a silent war with your parents. Especially the over-dramatic kind of parents.

Two weeks ago I had been caught sneaking out the window of my room. I had done so many times before, since my room was conveniently located on the first floor, but never before had I been caught. I had been trying to get out to go visit Jordan, my – now – ex-boyfriend. Sure, he wasn't the greatest for me, certainly not one you take home to mom. But regardless, it wasn't like I was planning a life with him. The whole relationship was shallow and uninvolved; both of us knew that.

My parents knew it too, but they definitely weren't down with the whole arrangement. I didn't see why; _they_ weren't the ones hanging out with him, after all. Anyways, they had told me that afternoon that I wasn't to see Jordan anymore since he was, and I quote, a "bad influence on me". Ha. They liked to come up with excuses for my lack of ability to choose good guys without blaming their own practically non-existant marriage. Seriously, what did they expect of the kid who grew up having _no _idea what a healthy relationship was supposed to look like?

And, being their theatrical selves, they decided to send me away. I was apparently moving from our cute little beach-house in sunny Key West, Florida to some ho-dunk town in Washington State. How lovely. I fought tooth and nail, threw tantrums, calmly reasoned, and tried acting the part of the angel daughter, all to no avail. They were completely stuck on me moving in with my flighty Aunt Julie in La Push, the teensy little Indian reservation on the coast of the state. They intended for me to live there for at least the rest of my high school career. I was 16 now, going into my junior year. I could come home when I graduated. At that point, I'd be 18 and old enough to leave on my own. Which I would. But, for now, I had to make do with small town life in the middle of absolutely nowhere. At least it had a beach, I mused half-heartedly.

My mother cleared her throat, bringing me out of my reverie.

"I expect you to behave yourself, Katelyn," she said sternly. I rolled my eyes. Oh no, not the dreaded use of my full name! She only ever called me Katelyn when she was trying (and often failing) to be stern. Usually I went by Kate.

"I will mother," I replied robotically. Nothing irritated her more than my nonchalance over leaving home behind. I'd never let her know just how much I hated the prospect of moving; she didn't deserve the satisfaction of knowing that her reprimanding ideas were actually successful. She sighed dejectedly. Oh, _now_ she wanted to make up? Now that I was on my way into the airport? I don't think so.

"Kate – " I cut her off. I had no desire to hear her apologize and then carry through with punishing me anyways.

"Save it, mom. I know you don't care. You couldn't possibly; you're going to send me off regardless of whether or not we make up right now. Why should you get to be the only one who's mad?" I asked rhetorically. She just looked at me, shocked by my outburst. I guess I understood that. I usually just gave the implication to my parents that I wasn't a fan of the way they handled, well, everything. I'd never actually said it at all, let alone as blunt as I did right then. But I couldn't find it in me to really care; this was my _mother_, for godssake! She was supposed to protect me or ground me or comfort me when I was sad! But all she ever did was find flaws in whatever I tried to do. And frankly, I was sick of it. So I proved it.

Anger still bubbling in me and glinting in my eyes, I wrenched the car door open and got out, slamming it behind me. The trunk was already popped, so I didn't have to worry about that. I grabbed my two suitcases and carry on roughly, dropping them on the ground unceremoniously before slamming the trunk shut, too. I was glad I didn't have much with me; it would have been embarrassing to have to ask for help at this point. We had shipped most of my stuff a week ago, anything that couldn't go through the mail was going on the plane with me. I tugged the strap of my little bag up further on my shoulder, checking to make sure I had my wallet, tickets, and passport. I was all set, so I stormed into the airport. Looking back, my mother was still in complete shock at my outlandish actions. I turned around completely and looked at her in the car, a snide expression on my face. I walked backwards and further into the airport, still dragging all my things. I paused, letting go of the handle of one of the suitcases. I nearly laughed at the hopeful expression on my mother's face, thinking I was hesitating for entirely different reasons.

I raised my hand in the air, flipped her off, and called out a cheerful, "Have a nice life!" and turned away without a backwards glance.

I ignored the stares that were focused on me and stalked off towards the check-in counter and security. I checked both suitcases and got through security, and then meandered off towards the ugly padded waiting area benches. After roughly an hour of waiting, I was ready to get on the plane to Port Angeles, Washington. It was still way too early in the morning; my parents probably got the earliest flight they possibly could to get me out of there. I heard the nasal voice of the flight attendant call my boarding number and I got up, groggily boarding the plane with the other weary-looking passengers. As soon as I settled in to the plane, I was completely dead. I leaned back in the chair and tried to sleep, hoping I could make some use out of this free time rather than settling for talking to a creepy person next to me who most likely had bad breath or a very irritating insistence to tell me all about their family. I was off in dream land shortly thereafter.

After what seemed like five minutes, I was jolted awake by the plane hitting the runway. What was _with_ people and insisting on shaking me like a ragdoll to wake me up? I rudely leaned over the person in the window seat and looked out the window. Not that I could see much; there were streaks of rain down the windows, giving everything a strange melting appearance. "_I'm meeelting, meeeeelllllttiiinnnng!" _I giggled to myself at my horrible sense of humour, earning me some strange looks that I chose to ignore.

After being pushed around and having my personal bubble invaded by tons of anxious and grumpy travellers, I finally stumbled into the gate. I looked around and tried to find the platinum blonde perm I was so used to seeing on my Aunt Julie. It should have been easy; she was around 5'11 with the massive hair. But I didn't see her. She better not have forgotten me. Just as I was about to pull out my wallet and find the nearest payphone, I spotted a crudely written sign that read, "Kate Marshall" with a smiley face drawn next to it. I looked up at the person holding it and OH MY GOD. This guy was _hot._ Not as in the kind of guy who's hot in comparison to the bland faces you're used to, but actually Calvin Klein-model hot. He had darkly tanned skin and black, shiny hair that was cut close to his head, clearly someone from the Quileute reservation. He wore only a pair of cut-off shorts and a white wife beater, which left nothing to the imagination. His muscles were clearly defined and obviously well developed. He had a strong jaw and high cheekbones. His eyes were bright and happy looking. I cautiously approached him and finally grasped just how huge he was. He had to have been at least 6'6 and twice as broad as me.

He looked over at me and questioningly pointed to his makeshift sign. I nodded and waved meekly. A huge grin spread across his face, his bright white teeth contrasting with his dark skin nicely. I smiled timidly back. As soon as I was right in front of him, I found myself having to crane my neck to look at him. He unexpectedly pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, pretty much cutting off all airflow. On top of that, his skin was boiling hot, like he had a fever. He looked fine though, so I brushed it off. I made a tiny squeaking noise and apparently the boy realized I was suffocating. He put my down immediately, chuckling lightly to himself. I looked up at him again.

"I'm Jacob. I take it you're Kate?" He smiled.

"You're tall," I stated dumbly. It wasn't my fault the boy was gorgeous enough to mess with my mind! He laughed.

"No, I'm Jacob," he grinned even wider as I blushed.

"You're also tall," I mumbled, severely embarrassed.

"I guess. I'm 6'7, but that's nothing compared to Paul and Jared, they're both 6'9!" I just looked at him, having no clue whether or not I should know who these people were. Noticing my expression, he added, "They're my friends. You'll meet them soon enough." Great. More horribly intimidating guys to make me stutter and look bad. Just what I need.

"Okay. So where's Julie?"

"She's getting her hair done," he said, like it was completely normal to ditch your niece at the airport for a haircut. I rolled my eyes and sighed, running a hand over my face. He laughed again and I looked at him again. "I take it you know her pretty well?"

"Not really," he said lightly. "She just sort of grabbed me, handed me the sign and told me to come get you at the airport." Great. So, for all I know, this guy could be a complete lunatic she just picked up off the street. I stared at him, a little freaked out. "Oh, no, not like that," he scrambled to redeem himself. "La Push is tiny, everyone knows everyone. I know Julie, just not completely well. She never comes to any of the bonfires on the cliffs and sort of keeps to herself." I nodded, relieved. He gestured grandly towards the baggage claim and we headed towards it. I saw my suitcases coming out at that second and sprinted to go get them. I pushed through the sea of bodies and caught both bags by their handles, trying to lug them off. Unsuccessfully. All I managed to do was knock a few other suitcases to the floor and get myself a few rude comments and several agitated grumbles. I ignored it and kept trying.

Jacob walked over, sighing, and gently nudged me out of the way. I huffed, not happy with having to be the damsel in distress. He rolled his eyes at me and lifted both suitcases with one hand easily. He made it look like he was carrying empty cardboard boxes rather than two seventy-five pound bags. I looked at him, shocked, as he continued to carry both and made his way out the doors towards a huge silver SUV. He dropped them in the trunk, which momentarily sagged under the weight, proving that I wasn't insane and that the bags really were heavy. He kicked the tire as he shut the trunk, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Stupid, weak car." We both hopped in and I leaned over to the radio to change the station. Jacob caught my wrist and put it back in my lap. I just looked at him. Stupid radio hog…

"The car is Paul's, he's just letting me borrow it. Mine isn't exactly running at the moment," he explained apologetically. "He'd kill me if the car wasn't exactly how he'd left it, radio station and all." I nodded, secretly mulling over this new information. This Paul didn't sound all too pleasant. I mean, really, couldn't he just change it back later? I wasn't at all looking forward to meeting him.

After about an hour in the car, I saw the little wooden sign that declared that we had officially entered La Push. At first there was nothing but forest, and I was about to ask if anyone actually _lived_ there, but then we saw signs of humanity. There were a few tiny houses spaced far apart, all of which looked worn and ancient. There were more and more homes as we got further in, as well as a tiny general store and a few other shops and restaurants.

"That's my house," he stated, pointing at a little red house with a small window and white door, with what looked to be several plastic sheds put together in the backyard. It was cute. "And that's yours." He pulled into the unpaved driveway two doors down of a two story – yet still compact – house, with white siding and a green front door. It had fluorescent pink and orange flowers growing in the window boxes and a nasty, mud-filled birdbath situated on the front lawn. Gross. I looked back at the house itself, and was generally pleased. I could handle this. All of a sudden, the door flew open, hitting the opposite wall with a reverberating _smack_ and bouncing back. Aunt Julie came running out of the house, squealing like a teenager. I was happy to see her hair – or lack thereof. She had gotten it cut into a short little boy cut, which was pretty modern for someone like her. She looked exactly like my mother; she had the same brown eyes, tan skin, and blonde hair, as well as the broad frame that seemed to run on that side of the family. An exact replica, except a few years younger and a lot happier. She hugged me tightly.

"What do you think of my new hair? I figured since I was taking care of you, I needed a mom haircut!" I laughed. She acted so much younger than me sometimes.

"It suits you, Julie." I wasn't allowed to call her Aunt Julie; she thought it made her sound old. She grinned and released all of me but my shoulders, holding me at arms length.

"You look so much like your father!" It was true, I really did. I had a petite frame, only about 5'4. I had light brown hair and very fair skin, as well as bright blue eyes. They were my favourite part of myself. I was a girl-version of my father and proud of it. At least, I used to be. I was really going to stand out here amongst a bunch of natives with my skin tone and colouring. Oh well. I couldn't do anything about it anyways; might as well embrace it. I smiled back at her. She looked over my shoulder. "Thanks for going to get her, Jake. I couldn't be a mom yet, I wasn't even looking the part!" I heard Jacob laugh. I turned around and saw that he already had my bags out and lifted in the air.

"Where can I put these?" He seemed to still not be struggling. Julie led us upstairs and to the back room with a large window overlooking the backyard. It was nice, albeit small. The room was painted a muted aqua colour and the floors were light wood. My bed, dresser, pillow and sheets were already here, as well as my lights and alarm clock. At least I wouldn't have to set too much up. Jacob dropped the bags with a loud _thud_ and smacked his hands together like he was cleaning off the dust. He smiled at me again.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then, Kate." I smiled and nodded mutely. "Oh, and I'll bring the p – I mean the guys. I'm sure they're dying to meet you!"

"Sure," I agreed weakly. He laughed at my reluctance. Pulling me into a much gentler hug than the first time, he said bye and left with a cheerful wave. Aunt Julie squealed and hugged me again.

"I'm just so happy you're here! It's going to be so much fun! You've still got 2 weeks of summer so you can sleep in, but I'm sure you'll want some sleep but I'm just so excited! We need to –" I jumped in there, before she could plan out all my spare time without me having any say in it.

"Yeah, Julie, can we talk about this tomorrow? I'm beat, I just want to sleep," I whined, pouting. She frowned but agreed, leaving me in peace. I unpacked my toiletries and pajamas (which weren't much more than a pair of soft shorts and a black tank top) and headed into the hallway. I got my own bathroom, since the master bedroom had its own attached. I was more than thrilled about this fact; I had to share with my parents back home. After I finished getting changed and brushing my teeth, I headed back to my room and flopped on the familiar bed. Hurray for having an actual bed again! I'd been sleeping on a mattress on the floor lately, since the bed had been shipped here. I left the suitcases as they were and decided to finish settling in tomorrow. I arched my back and pulled the covers out from under me. I slipped into their warmth and was gone as soon as my head hit the pillow. After a long day of travelling and stress I had absolutely no more energy. It was quiet and calm, all except for the distant sound of a wolf howling somewhere in the forest.

**A/N: So what do you think?!?! Review, let me know! Critiques are always appreciated, I'll try and update as soon as I can, I promise!**

**Love,**

**! 3**


	2. Embarrassment and Staring Contests

**A/N: Hey again! Wow, I got a pretty good response for the first chapter :) The only thing is, I got hardly any reviews but a zillion alerts and favourites. Yeah, I'm obviously pretty stoked about that, but please! Don't just alert and favourite, review it too! Reviews make me happy, and I promise I'll update sooner if you review more. But, shout out goes to ****Jacqulin ****who was the first to review! Go check out her stories, she's officially on my favourite authors list.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize!**

Chapter 2: Embarrassment and Staring Contests

The next morning, I found myself blinking against a ray of sunshine determined to wake me up. I rolled over with a grunt and tried to fall back asleep. But it was no use, I was already awake. I could imagine the stupid sunlight laughing maniacally right now for having succeeded. Stupid, shiny ray of light. I glanced at the clock and saw that it was 6 AM. Again, way too early. Fail. I flipped the covers off of me and swung my legs off the bed. The floor was freezing cold. I jumped around on the balls of my feet, trying to avoid contact with the icy floorboards, and grabbed a pair of bright red, thick socks that pulled up to my knees. I knew I looked ridiculous right now, but I was too tired to care. I snatched an afghan off the bed and draped it over my shoulders like a cape.

I wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen. Aunt Julie was already up and moving, cup of coffee and newspaper in hand. She looked at me and grinned. Great. A morning person. I was anything but; my hair looked like a haystack and my eyes were glazed over. I dragged my feet to the coffee maker and poured myself a cup.

"Coffee?" Aunt Julie sounded surprised. She had to have known there was coffee. She was holding a cup.

"Um, yes?" I didn't know what else to say; I didn't think she'd appreciate me asking if she had Alzheimer's like I really wanted to. I was sort of a grump in the morning, bent on destroying any sort of good mood around me. I sat down at the table and looked at her quizzically.

"Maybe that's why you're so short," she mused jokingly before laughing at herself. I snorted. "I like the Superman look you've got going on there," she added, motioning to my cape and long socks. I glared at her and she laughed harder.

"I was cold, okay? What did central heating ever do to you?" It was her turn to snort.

"I don't like to run up the bill. Besides, we've got sun right now! Might as well enjoy it; the clouds will take over in about half an hour." Thanks for reminding me that this state sees the sun about twice a year. I groaned and dropped my head onto my arms. I somehow managed to hit the handle of my coffee mug and send it flying through the air. Directly into my lap. The cup fell to the floor but didn't shatter; it just sort of bounced dully. I then realized that there was steaming hot coffee all over my shorts and bare legs.

"AH! IT'S HOT! I'M BURNING! IT BURNSSS!!" I screamed, jumping around in circles and peeling off the now-soaked shorts. I pulled off my blanket / cape and cleaned off my legs with it, hoping to diminish the fire. It felt better immediately since it hadn't really had time to burn my skin. I went to the sink and held a cool, wet washcloth there anyways. "Ahhh…" I sighed contentedly. I looked over at Aunt Julie. She was just sort of staring at me, one corner of her lips twitching. Suddenly she burst into laughter, complete with snorts and pointing in my general direction. Needless to say I wasn't pleased. I huffed and leaned against the counter with my arms crossed. This just made her laugh harder.

This went on for about ten minutes, at which point I was sitting on the couch watching TV, still mad at her for laughing at my pain. She sat next to me and tried to contain herself. There was still the odd snort or giggle, but I could handle that.

We sat there and chatted about nothing in particular for the next little while, and before I knew it three hours had passed. It was now quarter after 9 AM and the doorbell rang with a cutesy little tune that made me pause and stare at Aunt Julie. She shrugged non-apologetically and flipped the channel on the TV. I got up to get the door. When I opened it, though, I was face-to-face with a muscular chest. I looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Jake!" I said cheerily. He smiled back. His smile faded as he looked me up and down. It morphed into a mask of shock with an eyebrow raised. My brow furrowed; what was wrong? I looked down. Oh. I was wearing the socks, tank top, and just underwear. No shorts. I now officially understood the shock. I looked back up at him and grinned good naturedly, masking the fact that I was nearly dying with embarrassment. I was _so_ lucky I wasn't an easy blusher; my face would have been as red as my socks.

I giggled at his expression. "Is there something wrong, Jake? Have you never seen a girl without pants?" A chorus of "oooh's" and laughter alerted me to the fact that he was far from alone. There were five other massively huge guys standing in my doorway. All of them looked faintly related; their hair was the same colour and same length, their faces held the same maturity, their eyes held the same childlike shine. And they were all completely shirtless. Swoon. I restrained the jaw-drop I felt coming and smiled at them all politely.

"Jake! You just got told!" A husky, happy voice exclaimed loudly. The guy shoved Jake backwards and out of the way. I put out my hand for him to shake, but he ignored it and pulled me into a searing hot hug against his bare – swoon, again – chest. I squeaked and he let me go, laughing. "I'm Jared, by the way." Oh, this was the ridiculously tall guy Jake told me about.

"Oh, he's the 6'9 guy, right Jake?" He was still staring open mouthed. I giggled. "I'm Kate. Come on in." The whole group pushed through the door, except for Jake and one other. Jake shook his head quickly and walked through to join his friends. The other one just stood there. "Um, you can come in too, you know. I show no prejudice between tall, shirtless guys." Everyone laughed except him. He was still staring.

"Uh, Paul?" The youngest looking guy stepped forward to see if he was okay. Ah, this was the infamous Paul. Jake grabbed the young one.

"Give him a minute, Seth." Seth looked between Paul and me, a knowing grin spreading across his face. I looked around; all the others had the exact same expression. I would've laughed if I wasn't so creeped out by Paul. "Embry, go talk to Julie." Another guy, Embry I assumed, got up and headed to the living room where I could hear the TV still blaring. He moved with unconscious grace and completely silently. Weird, a guy his size should have been shaking the house off its foundation. "Quil, bring Paul to Sam's." The last boy, Quil, stepped forward and toward the door. I stepped into his path and shook my head.

"You guys can stay. Let Paul or whatever his name is be creepy on his own." They all exchanged a glance and I turned to face Paul. He was still unmoving. "Are you having a stroke?" One of the guys chuckled, which was immediately followed by a smacking sound. He shut up. Paul was still…gawking. I shrugged and slammed the door in his face. I turned around to see five matching dumbstruck expressions.

"Alright, Kate!" Seth cheered, pulling me to his side in a one-armed hug. Everyone laughed a little, glancing towards the door, and then it fell silent. I could hear husky mumbling coming from the living room, which I assumed was Embry talking to Julie. The silence broke with Julie's ecstatic little squeal of "Yay!". I was so unbelievably confused.

"Julie? You alright?" I called to her. This was beyond strange.

"Oh, um, yes," she called back. "I'm fine, just…just talk to the boys for now, I'll be out in a second!" She sounded guilty; she was almost as bad a liar as I was. Jake looked sheepish.

"What's going on here?" I asked suspiciously. Jake rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "You all obviously know something I don't. Can't you just fill me in?" They all stayed silent. "Fine," I fumed. "You can all just leave and go hang out with your creeper friend." I opened the door again and motioned towards it, indicating that they should go. They all started laughing. I looked to the door; Paul was _still_ there and _still _wearing his stupid shocked and confused expression. "Oh, for the love of all that's HOLY, Paul!" I yelled, exasperated. His head snapped over to me at the sound of his name. "What the hell are you doing?!" Everyone was laughing and nearly in tears. "That's it. Everyone out."

At that point, Aunt Julie bustled into the room with Embry, a huge smirk on her face. "Now, now, Kate." She scolded me, and turned to the group of hysterical boys. "You can all stay. And Paul, what on _earth_ are you doing? Get in here!" He stayed, and Jake came forward to actually drag him into the house. I stalked into the kitchen and slumped onto a chair. The guys filed in after me, still looking amused. Paul came in last and locked his eyes on me. I looked away and he actually _growled_! I didn't even know people could _do_ that! I glanced over at him; he looked severely pissed.

I looked away again and he walked over slowly, settling quietly into the chair next to mine but never looking away from my face. I scooted my chair away from him and towards Jake on my other side, but Paul just scooted closer. Jake grabbed my chair and pushed it towards Paul's. I couldn't do anything; he was a million times stronger than me. The side of my chair collided with the side of Paul's and both boys grinned, pleased. He reached for my hand on the table, so I crossed my arms. This was too creepy for words. And was everyone on Paul's side!? Thanks for the support, everyone.

"Hi, Kate," he finally said. I nodded at him mutely, refusing to make conversation. Paul was definitely the hottest out of the group; why were the hot ones always gay, mean, or insane? "How are you?" There seemed to be more behind the question. He seemed genuinely concerned about the answer, not like I would expect. It was usually implied that they didn't really care; they just wanted to make conversation.

"I'm fine," I answered stiffly. I looked around. All eyes were on us. Well, except Paul's. His were just on me.

"Oh come on. Seriously, don't you guys have anything better to do than watch this conversation like reality TV?!" I snapped at them. They all threw themselves into a conversation with the person next to them with a bit too much animation. I didn't care; I just didn't like them watching me. I chanced a look at Paul, who tried to lock eyes with me. With a frustrated sigh, I made eye contact. He stared at me like he was trying to decipher my thoughts, while I just counted in my head to see how long I could go without blinking.

"Hey Jake! Watch me, Seth watch Paul! We're having a staring contest!" I called out cheerily. Paul frowned, upset that I had ruined his soul-searching moment. I just kept not blinking. Eventually my eyes started to water and I frowned. Paul leaned forward, concerned, and blinked.

"HA!" Jake, Seth and I all called out at the same time. They both yelled, "She wins!" at the same time I yelled "I win!" Everyone cheered and laughed, except Paul. He was pouting.

"Oh, don't be such a sore loser, Paul," I laughed. He started to do that odd growling thing again and actually started to _shake_. Jeez, what a poor sport! I smacked him upside the head. "CALM DOWN," I ordered. Everyone burst out laughing as Paul stopped shaking and stared at me in shock. I smiled angelically. My hand sort of hurt, though. Man, was his head ever hard! I stood up and made my way over to the stairs to go take a shower, when I felt someone behind me. I whirled around and saw that Paul was following me like a lost puppy. I stared at him.

"I – I just wanted to talk to you," he said, running a hand through his hair. I motioned for him to proceed. He didn't. I turned around again and kept walking. "Wait, wait! I do want to say something, Kate! Give me a second!"

"Can this wait?" I asked, still walking away. He grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, pulling me into his bare, scalding hot chest. I started to lose my balance and he held me tighter. I struggled to get away but he wasn't letting go. "Paul," I warned. He leaned his face closer to mine. "Paul, don't even think about it," I warned again, a slight edge of panic in my voice. I knew I couldn't get away from him, he was way too strong. He just kept leaning in, our faces millimetres apart now. Just as our lips brushed, I yelled, "WHAT THE HELL, PAUL!" and kneed him as hard as I could between the legs. His breath let out in one big _whoosh_ and he let me go. He was bent over at the waist, breathing shallowly and groaning in pain. I backed away.

All the guys were now in the doorway of the kitchen, watching the scene. I assumed they were alarmed by my shouting. I turned on them. "You guys are all more than welcome to come over any time. This guy here," I pointed at Paul, close to keeling over. "Can stay home. I want nothing to do with him." I turned on my heel and stalked up the stairs.

I was royally pissed off. Where did this guy get the gall to just come at me like that? He hadn't even said ten words to me at this point, yet he thought it was okay to _kiss_ me? What was his _problem_? And what was with everyone else? They all seemed to know something I didn't and didn't seem to feel inclined to tell me. Even though it obviously involved me. They didn't even look creeped out by the whole staring business! They just looked amused and sort of fascinated. They better not bring Paul over anymore. They would all end up writhing in pain with the same fate as Paul just received if they did.

I grabbed a change of clothes and my toiletries and stalked into the hallway, towards the bathroom. I put all my things on the sink counter but heard voices in the hall. I tip toed out and leaned over the banister stealthily, determined to hear what they'd say when I wasn't around. Paul looked dejected and about ready to burst into tears. The others all looked sympathetic, including Aunt Julie. Jake was patting him on the back in comfort.

"She'll come around eventually, man," he assured Paul confidently. "They always do." What did that mean? Did Paul go after a lot of girls, or was he referring to something else?

"But what if she doesn't?" He asked back. His face was contorted in sadness and pain. I could guess where pain was from (ha, ha), but he had no right to be sad. If he hadn't been so ridiculously weird earlier, I might've talked to him. It was his fault entirely that things turned out the way they did.

"She will," Aunt Julie said. Like hell I would! And how come _she_ got to know about all this, but I didn't? It was hardly fair. Paul just dropped his face in his hands and shook his head. Everyone looked sad and sort of confused. I turned away before I got caught and headed into the shower. What did all this mean? What was going on? I had hoped that eavesdropping would clear up some of the mysteries, but it only added a few more of its own. I wasn't sure what to make of it all. I washed up and tried not to think, singing a song in my head to drown out my musings.

After I dried off and got dressed, I applied a little makeup and dried my hair. Nothing much. I never really did much in the morning; it only took about half an hour for me to get ready. I headed back into my room and eyed the suitcases. I decided to unpack. After a little while, I had officially taken out and put away all the clothes and posters in my suitcase, finally making the room look a little more occupied. When I was pleased with that, I made my bed meticulously. I fussed over it until it was perfect. I didn't really care all that much usually; I was sort of a slob. But as of right now I really didn't want to go downstairs and face any questions that would surely arise. I sighed, concluding that there really was nothing more that I could do. I walked back downstairs and hesitated at the doorway to the kitchen. Aunt Julie was there. Should I try and escape, or just go in and get it over with?

"Kate, could you come here for a minute?" Julie asked. Dang, there goes option one. I took a deep breath and walked in, plastering a fake smile on my face. I sat down next to her.

"Sure, what do you need?" I asked happily. She looked over and raised an eyebrow, not fooled by my antics. I dropped the smile and sighed. "What is it, Julie?"

"What happened there?" she asked me suspiciously. She was suspicious of _me_!?She should be freaking out at Paul! At this point, I was about ready to explode.

"Which time Julie? Oh, are you talking about when he just stood there in the doorway, staring? Or when you wouldn't tell me what you were so excited about? Or how you invited them all in right after I asked them to leave? Or how you let me end up next to the stupid creepy Paul and didn't even tell him to keep his hands to himself? How about all those times when he growled or shook or just gawked at me openly, hmm? Are you talking about that? Or maybe you mean how he followed me out when I left and wouldn't let go of me and tried to kiss me when I told him to stop? No, you couldn't mean that. After all, you were too busy sitting there and letting Paul do whatever he goddamned pleased without even once stopping to think about what I thought of everything. You were too busy thinking about what _Paul_ wanted and comforting _Paul_ that you didn't even talk to your poor little _invisible_ niece who just got _attacked_!" I vented everything I had, all my frustrations pouring out of me with no end. I was yelling at the finish of my little rant, so I slammed my fist onto the table, shaking her cup of tea and spilling a few drops on the table. Breathing heavily, I got up to leave. I couldn't be here anymore.

"I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "I didn't know you felt that way…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," I said without a hint of apology. "Sorry I ever showed up in your life, which is apparently already too full of secrets and psychotic people. So full, in fact, that you seem to have forgotten where your responsibilities are _supposed_ to lie." I spat. And with that, I left.

**A/N: Whew, there's another chapter up for you guys! Be happy it's up within a day; I figured I needed to keep going if I was going to get any action! Please please please review! Don't just read it and don't just favourite/alert! Anonymous reviews are fine, too. Visitors can now officially post something if they want, I changed the settings ;) WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE!? Go on, review!**

**Love, **

**Sarah Yoko! **


	3. The Beauty of Lockable Doors

**A/N: Oh come on. Let's be serious here. I have a total of 86 visitors, 94 hits, 44 alerts, 45 favourites. Yet, I have FOUR reviews. How does this WORK!? So, this is the last chapter I'm giving without a little effort on your part. I need at least 5 reviews to post the next chapter. It's already written, and the original plan was to post one every day. But this isn't working! I'm counting on you guys to make this story the best it can be. Help me out here a little! ;) Well, now that that's said, here's chappie 3!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize!**

Chapter 3: The Beauty of Lockable Doors

As soon as I finished my mini freak out on Aunt Julie, I bolted out of the house. I left the door unlocked behind me and scurried down the street and around a corner, safely out of sight. I let out a relieved sigh and slowed down a bit. I really needed the fresh air right now. My thoughts were all tangled up and confusing; I had no idea what to make of anything. I sat down on a convenient curb and tried to regain control. I was breathing hard, my heart was beating fast, and every time I tried to make sense of what I knew, everything became more of a snarl. Too many things were inexorably tied together.

I decided to make a list of what I knew; hopefully the cool, damp air would help clear things up. Okay. I knew that there was some sort of secret that seemingly everyone knew about. Except for me. Apparently it's pretty exciting and probably positive, considering Aunt Julie's enthusiastic response. Paul was connected to it, somehow through me. He had some strange fixation with me that all the guys understood and recognized. I guess some guy named Sam was an important person, since that's where Jake wanted Quil to take Paul when he was freaking out. Paul growled randomly. Okay, that last point wasn't exactly a huge deal in the long haul most likely, but really. Who _growls_?!

I sighed again and dropped my face into my hands. This _really_ wasn't working. If anything, it was making matters worse.

"What's on your mind?"

I must have jumped ten feet in the air. My heart was beating irregularly and way too fast. I squealed loudly and turned towards the source of the voice. Jake was sitting next to me, grinning cheekily at my reaction. How did I not notice him? He was so quiet it was almost eerie. It sort of freaked me out, if I was being perfectly honest. I smacked his shoulder.

"Are you _trying_ to kill me? You almost gave me a heart attack!" He just laughed harder. "Stupid boys," I mumbled under my breath, too quietly for him to hear.

"What did stupid boys do now?" He asked, smiling at me again. Apparently I wasn't as quiet as I thought. I just shook my head at him and got up off the curb, walking down the sidewalk in the direction I was heading initially. I sensed (rather than heard) Jake's presence beside me. "Is it a secret?" he stage-whispered. I just glared at him. He grinned back and I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose it is. Only you know it and I don't." I eyed him up, hoping that I could get the answers I needed out of him somehow.

"Is this about the Paul issue?" he asked suspiciously. I nodded. "Then I can't help you. It's not my place to tell, sorry." He didn't look sorry at all. Just sort of apprehensive. I groaned. Nobody told me anything anymore! I pouted at him, sticking out my bottom lip and pleading with my eyes. All he did was chuckle at me again. "Put that lip back in." he ordered with a laugh. I did as he asked and put my hands in my pockets dejectedly. This all sucked. Why was it such a big mystery? Why couldn't people trust me? Was it something horrible, did I do something wrong? I felt my eyes fill up with tears that I tried to fight off unsuccessfully. I guess one escaped, because next thing I knew, Jake wiped it off my cheek and pulled me into a tight, brotherly hug. I wrapped my tiny arms around his scalding waist and hugged him back with as much force as I could. He squeezed me affectionately.

"Don't cry, Kate. It's okay, shh, it's okay," he cooed, trying to get me to calm down. This was completely irrational! I never was an easy crier; this place was messing with me.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, embarrassed by my emotional display.

"It's fine. You're frustrated, I bet," he concluded. I nodded against his chest and he just sighed apologetically. We just stood there for a while as he comforted me and I tried my damnedest to calm down before I made a bigger fool of myself. The silence was nice.

"Get your hands off her," I heard an all-too familiar voice snarl from across the street. I groaned and hugged Jake tighter. He laughed.

"Paul, its fine. We're just friends, relax," Jake said nonchalantly, clearly trying to diffuse the tense situation. He reached behind himself and gently unhooked my arms from his waist, tugging me away lightly. I clung tighter, but I was no match for him. He was way too strong. He left an arm around my shoulders and I leaned into him.

"I said, get your hands off her," Paul restated slowly, menacingly. I frowned. I wasn't his, who was he to tell me what I can and can't do?

"Paul. Stop it. I'm friends with Jake, you have no ownership over me, so leave it," I retorted icily. Jake tried to loosen his arm from me but I held tight. I was trying to make a point here. Paul just switched between glares at Jake and stares at me. It would've been funny if he weren't trying to act like a caveman right now. Finally, he focused on my face. His expression dissolved into pure horror at the sight of my red-rimmed, puffy eyes. Did I really look that bad?

"What happened? Are you okay?" he stepped forward, concerned, but I stepped back. He turned to Jake. "What did you do? Did you say something? Did you hurt her? I swear to God –" I cut him off before anything happened. Paul seemed to have a bit of a temper.

"I'm fine. Jake didn't do anything, don't be crazy. Relax," I said slowly. He turned to me again. I nodded and half smiled, but he didn't look convinced. His brow was still furrowed and he still looked so worried I thought he'd have a stroke.

"Are you sure?" he asked insecurely. Poor guy. He must be really freaking out. I decided to be the good guy in this. I stepped towards him just a little bit. His face just froze. He looked shocked, excited, and nervous all at once. I stepped forward again and locked eyes with him. Oh god, he was really freaking out again. I figured I'd do it quick and painlessly, like ripping off a band-aid. I took a deep breath and closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms around his waist in a light hug. His arms hung lifelessly beside him, so I didn't think it had the intended effect. I went to step away and he suddenly came to life. His arms locked around me and pressed me tightly against his (luckily) clothed chest. I was undeniably uncomfortable. I wasn't really going for "let's suddenly be friends and hug each other," kind of hug. I was aiming for something more like "here, have a hug so you don't panic and throw up." Clearly he didn't get the memo. I patted his back awkwardly and he leaned his chin onto the top of my head. I cleared my throat, but he ignored it. I sighed, pressing my palms flat against his chest and shoving. He didn't budge.

"One more second," he whispered huskily. I rolled my eyes. I shoved again.

"Let me go." I ordered him flatly. He slowly released me and I took a full two steps back, staring at him cautiously. His whole face was lit up like a Christmas tree and he was beaming hugely. I hope I hadn't encouraged him. I looked at Jake for support but he wasn't there anymore. Stupid, silent boy. I looked back at Paul. He came towards me again, arms outstretched, but I was having none of that. I held my hands up defensively and backed away, trying to put as much space between us as possible. He frowned and dropped his arms so I took this as my cue to leave. I gave him a tiny, nervous smile and a nod and turned on my heel, walking down the street again. I felt a weight settle over my shoulders and looked up, thinking Jake had come back after Paul left. It definitely wasn't Jake.

"So, are we friends now?" Paul asked, his arm still draped around me. I frowned and ducked out from under him, taking a few steps ahead at the same time.

"No, I just didn't want you to have a heart attack or anything." He looked confused. "You looked so worried I thought you might throw up." He took a few steps forward to meet me, still frowning.

"That was a pity hug?" He seemed unnecessarily put-off by this fact.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that," I replied, trying to figure out his expression. If I was right, it looked like a mix of pain, confusion, excitement, and sadness. What a strange kid. Well, I couldn't call him a kid, since he was nearly a foot-and-a-half taller than me. Whatever.

"Oh. I thought you liked me now," he stated, like it was obvious that one very uncomfortable hug would imply this.

"One awkward hug doesn't mean much," I retorted. How dense was he? I kneed him in the groin the other day, yelled at him, and told him to never come near me again. Yet, in his eyes, one hug makes us friends. Fool. He looked all depressed again. I would have hugged him (since he sure looked like he needed a hug at this point) but I didn't want to encourage him anymore that I accidentally did already. Apparently he didn't need any more encouragement though, since he tried to slip his hand into mine at that point. I stared at him in disbelief and he read my pause as an acceptance, so he threaded his fingers through mine with a cheeky grin. I snatched my hand back and put it in my pocket, scowling. He sighed dejectedly and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why do you hate me so much?" I was caught off-guard by his blunt question.

"I don't hate you. You creep me out."

"What? How?"

"Dude. You just…stared at me for a good ten minutes yesterday, followed me around without saying anything, tried to kiss me when you had said _maybe_ two words to me, and keep making awkward come-ons that sort of freak me out!" I listed off everything I could, ticking off each point on my fingers. His frown deepened at every incident I mentioned.

"Yeah. I guess that's a little weird." I nodded enthusiastically in response and he sighed again. "Wait, did you just call me 'dude'?" I scowled and didn't answer, looking away. He stepped closer to me again and I stepped away. He JUST admitted how creepy he was being, yet he keeps going? "Oh, come on, Kate. A little contact won't hurt anything." And with that he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. Oh god.

"Paul! Let me go!" He just had a dazed look in his eyes, completely ignoring everything I said. "What?" I asked cautiously.

"I like it when you say my name."

"God damnit Paul!" I elbowed him in the side, hard. He never even budged. Pain shot up through my forearm from my elbow with a jolt. My eyes filled up with tears and I ripped my way out of his embrace. I turned around and booked it back where I had come from, hoping to get home before he could catch up. Ah, the beauty of lockable doors.

"Kate! Kate! What's wrong? What did I do?" I supposed I couldn't exactly tell him that his rock-hard stomach had hurt my elbow, so I just stayed quiet, fuming and running in silence. He kept calling my name and I could hear him getting closer. I turned the corner, and I could see the little house a short while ahead. He was getting close now. I contemplated my options. I obviously couldn't slap him, hit him, or kick him. It would probably just hurt me more than him. I figured my best bet was to go with what worked: kick him in the groin. He caught up to me right then, grabbing me by the bad elbow to stop me. I cried out in pain and he let go immediately. Cradling my arm to my chest, I kicked him in the crotch again. It had the desired effect; he keeled over with a gasp. I turned back around and headed for the house. I got the door open and was stepping in when I heard Paul.

"You know, if you keep hitting me there you're not going to be able to have my babies!" He called out as if it was a valid point. I paled. What was this guy's _problem_?! I turned around and yelled back, "GOD DAMNIT PAUL!" slamming the door and locking the deadbolt behind me. I slid down with my back against it until I was sitting on the floor, my face buried in my arms.

"Whatever Paul did, Kate –" Aunt Julie started. She better not defend him right now. I swear people will die if she does.

"Don't even say it." She seemed to pick up on my hostility and left me alone. "_You're not going to be able to have my babies," _I mocked in a poor impression of his voice. Who _says_ that? What a creeper!

"Kate! Open up! I didn't mean to say that, it just slipped out!" Speak of the creeper. He was banging furiously on the door and trying to turn the knob fruitlessly.

"It's bad enough you were thinking it! I don't even _know_ you!"

"I know! I'm sorry!"

"I don't care, leave me alone!" I got up off the floor and went into my room, locking that door too. I sniffled, the pain in my arm multiplying by the second. I hope I didn't break anything; I hit him as hard as I could. When I realized that my entire arm was starting to get red and my elbow was swollen, I figured I should get some ice at least. I went back downstairs and dug through the freezer for an ice pack. Aunt Julie picked that moment to come into the kitchen and her eyes bugged out of their sockets at the sight of my arm.

"What happened, Kate?" she asked frantically. I rolled my eyes.

"I elbowed Paul," I answered. She frowned and looked like she was going to ask, but thought better of herself. Good, she was learning.

"We should get that looked at, it may be broken." I stared at her.

"How could it break? I elbowed a _person._ People aren't that hard, right?" She looked uneasy and avoided the question.

"Come on, I'll drive you to the hospital," she said anyways, grabbing my by my good arm and towing me out the door and to the car. Thank goodness Paul had given up and left; I really wasn't in the mood to deal with any more drama than I was already having to. Aunt Julie drove me to Forks hospital, a tiny little institution that looked a lot less industrial than any I'd seen before. She helped me open the door and pulled me into the ER doors. I sat down in a folding chair, trying to just breathe through my mouth. I hated the antiseptic smell that all hospitals seemed to have. It was so gross. Aunt Julie was up at the desk and was filling in a sheet, my personal information most likely. After she finished, she came and sat down next to me with a weak smile. A nurse called my name shortly after and escorted us into a small, pale green room with an examination table. I sat up on top of it and Julie took a seat in the corner. We sat in silence for a while, me fuming at Paul for putting me in this situation, Aunt Julie trying not to say anything to make me blow up again. After about ten excruciating minutes, the doctor walked in. Oh. My. God. What did they put in the water here!?

The doctor was probably in his twenties, with light blonde hair and kind, golden eyes. His skin was very pale and all of his features were movie-star flawless. He was _hot._ He smiled, revealing a set of perfectly straight and white teeth. He looked down at the chart he had carried in.

"Hello. I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen; I'll be helping you out today. So, Katelyn, what seems to be the problem?" His voice was hot too. _Get yourself together,_ I thought, mentally slapping myself. I smiled back politely, trying not to squeal like a thirteen year old.

"It's Kate. And I hurt my left elbow." It was all I could manage in the presence of a frickin' Greek God.

"I see. How did you manage to hurt it?" He picked it up gently and started to examine it. His hands were freezing, a huge change from the heat I'd gotten used to radiating off Jake and his friends.

"I elbowed Paul…" I looked at Aunt Julie. I didn't know his last name, but I thought it might be important.

"Paul Hatch," she supplied, looking just as dazed as I was by Doctor Cullen. "He's Jacob Black's friend." Realization dawned in his eyes and he quickly averted his gaze back to my arm. Oh no, please don't tell me _he_ was in on the secret too! What kind of place was this?

"Alright then," he mumbled, jotting down a few things on the chart. "I think it's broken, but we'll have to get an x-ray to be sure. Do you have any sort of health problems that I –" The door banged open, cutting him off. Paul, of all people, stepped in. His nostrils were flaring and he looked murderously angry. Doctor Cullen gazed back pleasantly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked me harshly.

"Hey, don't blame me. You're the one that broke my arm!" I glared back at him and crossed my arms before wincing at the pain the movement caused. He still looked angry, but he turned his gaze back on the doctor.

"Don't. Touch. Her," he ordered, saying each word with authority. Doc just looked amused.

"I take it you're Paul, then. And I apologize, but this is my job. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he replied with even more authority than Paul. Dang, Doc could hold his own!

"Paul, just go. This is your fault. Stop trying to protect me from the doctor," I mocked. His eyes softened when I told him it was his fault, but I had no sympathy for him.

"I won't bother you, but I'm not leaving," he said, aiming a cold glare at Doc. I rolled my eyes at his overprotective antics. Doc helped me down from the bench so I wouldn't have to use my arms and I heard Paul do his odd growling thing. I looked over and he was shaking.

"Stop growling. Don't be such a drama queen," I told him. The growling and shaking stopped again and he just looked shocked. Doc and Julie both tried to cover their laughter as coughing and I smirked. I followed Doc out the door, leaving Paul there to gape at me.

I got my x-ray done, and it turns out I had a hairline fracture in my elbow and one running up my forearm. I needed a cast for four weeks. Stupid Paul. I left it white so more people could sign it. Aunt Julie signed it first, and I got Doctor Cullen to sign too just to bother Paul more. He did so with a laugh and sent me on my way with a bottle of Tylenol-3's. I took one as soon as I got home and started to doze off on the couch. When I was nearly out of it, I heard Paul's voice drift over to me from the front door. I wanted to get up and tell him to go, but I didn't have the energy. I tried listening in, but everything sounded like a garbled mess to me in my lethargic state. I ignored it and tried to sleep again. I felt his weight settle on the end of the couch, his heat radiating through the soles of my feet. I felt him lean over to my arm, hold it for a second, and then let it go. I opened my eyes just a little after his weight was gone and looked at my cast. He had signed it and put a little heart under it. Smart ass. I then noticed a little drawing right under the signature and looked closer. It was a crude little doodle of a stick figure girl smiling next to a massive dog-looking thing. I looked closer still and saw the labels with an arrow pointing to each figure. The girl was labelled "Kate" and the dog thing was labelled "Wolf." There was another arrow attached to the wolf. I followed the long, squiggly line that wrapped around my thumb and around my wrist and found the last word. It wasn't anything dreadfully important. All the messy script said was,

"_Yours."_

**A/N: There you go! Here's another. Now, you know the drill! I need at least five reviews (Anonymous ones count too!) before I'll update with the new chapter. So get to work, people ;) **

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**Sarah Yoko!**


	4. Freaks and Secrets

**A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, guys! TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY! It's always nice to hear that people are reading this story, it makes it that much more fun ;) Same rule applies, except I'm bumping it up! **_**SIX**_** reviews before I update!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize!**

Chapter 4: Freaks and Secrets

I kept my eyes shut when I woke up from my drug-induced sleep. I worked to keep my breathing even and tried hard not to move. I could hear Aunt Julie and Paul talking about me quietly. Paul was standing somewhere near the couch and Julie was in the chair next to it. Paul walked over to where I was laying and gently picked up my feet. I tried not to protest as he sat on the end of the couch and put my feet in his lap. Grr.

"She seemed pretty mad earlier," Aunt Julie mused.

"Yeah. I kind of said something I shouldn't have," Paul mumbled. I could imagine Julie's questioning gaze as she lifted her eyebrow like she always did. He sighed. "I…well…I may have said…" he cleared his throat nervously. I wondered if he'd lie; this wasn't something you tell the girl's aunt. I felt him shift under me and then he rushed out the rest of his sentence. "I may have told her not to kick me in the crotch because then she wouldn't be able to have my babies." He took a deep breath at the end and let it out shakily. Julie laughed quietly.

"That may have scared her off just a bit, Paul," she said, laughter evident in her voice. "Way to be subtle."

"Well it's not my fault! I get all nervous around her! I mean, she's my imprint but she's also really pretty!" I held back my girlish giggle and prayed that I didn't blush. "God, she's hot," he mumbled under his breath, too quiet for anyone but me to hear. I tried to figure out what he meant by "imprint." I racked my brain. Nope, I definitely didn't know that word.

"I know how you feel about her, but keep in mind that she doesn't." Oh sure, I'm completely oblivious. Like he hadn't made his strange fixation clear enough with all those weird advances.

"I think I made it obvious with all the awkward flirting things I tried." Ha, he was right with me in his line of thinking. Julie sighed.

"Maybe. But I think you're going about it all wrong. After all, that sort of thing doesn't really show how much you feel for her." Oh god, this was worse than I thought. I think I needed to discourage him.

"She's just been doing everything to discourage me!" He he, that's twice now.

"Just…don't be so creepy about it," she suggested. Yes! Score one for Aunt Julie. "You need to prove that you care, not that you just want a relationship with her. There's a lot of things you need to build up before you can get her to love you. One of those things is a friendship." I agreed with the whole "friendship first" thing, but why did everyone expect me to love him!?

"I'm not meaning to creep her out," Paul started uncertainly. Well, you're definitely succeeding with the creepiness. "I just…I can't handle myself around her and that stuff just sort of happens." Oh, so he _wasn't _a creeper by nature. It was cool and all that he cared, but I severely doubted that I could manage to hold a conversation with him if he was going to act like that all the time, regardless of whether or not he was trying. The conversation dwindled into small talk, so I decided it was time for me to "wake up." Paul's hands were tracing my calves and I didn't want him to get too comfortable with it. I yawned and stretched my arms. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, feigning confusion at my surroundings.

"What time is it?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Just after nine in the morning," I heard Paul answer. I groaned and stretched again. When I finally had the nerve, I looked at Paul.

"Paul? How did you get in here?" I asked, pulling my legs off his lap and tucking them under me. I saw his hand twitch to hold them when I first pulled away, but he got it together. Good boy. He nodded at Aunt Julie with a small smile. I looked back at her and she smiled too. She got up and left the room, though, leaving me alone with Paul. I looked back at him; he was still smiling. I smiled back to be pleasant, and his smirk turned into a full-blown grin. I laughed and his face fell just a little.

"What? What's wrong? Do you want me to leave? 'Cause I can leave if you want…" He trailed off. I shook my head, still laughing.

"No, it's fine. I was laughing at your face." His brow furrowed; he was confused. "Your smile," I clarified. "It looked like it was going to break your face." I snickered a little more and he laughed too. My stomach grumbled and his did the same, making us both laugh more. I got up to go get us food, but apparently it was a bit too fast. I got light-headed and started to fall. Great, I could go back to the hospital and see the hot doctor!

It took me a minute to realize that the floor was no longer rushing towards my face and that there was a hot, hard arm wrapped around my waist. Paul pulled me up but I just fell the opposite way and into his chest. His arm constricted around me.

"Paul…" I said warningly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," he let go of me and I regained my balance. He stood there rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Good job," I complimented. He finally made eye contact, but he seemed confused again. "You actually let go for once." I winked and walked into the kitchen. I heard him pull out a chair and sit as I opened the fridge door and looked inside for something to make. I bent over and reached for the eggs; they were fast and easy. I paused.

"Paul, stop staring at my ass," I said with a laugh. He cleared his throat.

"I wasn't," he said defensively, clearly lying. After a second, he added, "How did you know that?" I laughed again.

"I didn't, your answer said it all." He groaned and I turned around in time to see him drop his head on the table with a _bang_.

"I suck at this," he muttered, his voice muffled by the table.

"It's fine," I reassured him. Even though it was creepy. "You're a guy." He snickered but seemed to relax. I pulled out the eggs and set them on the counter, as well as a pack of bacon. "I'm having two eggs, how many do you want?"

"I'll have the rest of the carton," he replied nonchalantly. I gaped. He must be kidding.

"You're going to eat ten eggs by yourself?" He nodded, so I shrugged and prepared the entire carton. I decided to make scrambled eggs; anything else would take forever. As I mixed everything together and poured it into the pan, Paul tried to make small chat.

"So…how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Insert painfully awkward pause here.

"Want to hang out today?" I sighed. Here we go.

"No thanks."

"Oh."

"Yup."

"Well, can I hang around here?"

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Kaaaate," he whined.

"Paullllll," I whined back. He snickered.

"Can we just do _something_? I promise I won't do anything weird!" I severely doubted that. "I won't even make eye contact if you don't want me to!" And I was right.

"You see, that in itself would be weird." He groaned loudly and started hitting his head on the table.

"I. Can't. Do. Anything. Right!" He hit his head on each word. I threw an eggshell at him.

"No committing suicide at the table or you don't get any eggs." He stopped hitting his head but sighed again.

"Aren't you supposed to tell me that I'm doing something right? Not just bribe me to stop committing suicide with promises of eggs?" He asked seriously. I laughed.

"I'm not gonna lie. You're doing a LOT of things wrong." He groaned again. "But want to know what you can do?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Come cut up some tomatoes." He snickered and got up to help. I handed him the knife and the cutting board, as well as the bowl of washed tomatoes. He got to work straight away, clearly trying to get in my good books. We did it in silence, the only sounds being the knife on the cutting board and the eggs and bacon sizzling in their pans.

"So you should come to the bonfire tonight," Paul said, effectively breaking the silence.

"What bonfire?" I asked. Was I supposed to know about it?

"Well, if you would have given me a chance to explain, you would already know." He replied snippily. I snorted.

"Fine, go ahead. What is this bonfire?" I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to know. I assumed that Jake and everyone would be there if I did go, but I wasn't in the mood for trying to salvage mine and Paul's nonexistent friendship. Which I was sure would be the case by the end of it. He was way too strange to allow for much other than that.

"Well, all the people in La Push come out to the cliffs every so often to go listen to the elders tell stories and there's food and stuff," he told me, seeming to think it was a big deal that I go, judging by the earnestness in his voice.

"Oh yeah, Jake told me about that." He stared at me before frowning.

"When did he tell you? Why did he tell you?" I just looked at him. What was his problem with Jake and me being friends? He kept going without letting me answer. "He knew it was my job to tell you, he knew that! Stupid kid, I'll kill him," he kept muttering. I jumped in when he stopped to take a breath.

"He told me when he was explaining why he didn't know my aunt very well. He told me she never came out to the bonfires. Jeez, Paul! Cool it, would you? No need to snap over everything." He just continued to grumble to himself and started cutting the tomatoes faster and harder.

"OUCH! DAMNIT! THAT HURTS!" I jumped and turned to see what was wrong. Paul had sliced clear through his hand. The blood was dripping onto the cutting board and the red-covered knife clattered to the floor. I paled. Paul was still yelling out every curse word imaginable while I leaned over the bloody mess to get a cloth to clean up his hand. But, as I watched, it started to heal. I froze and observed it, equally disgusted, horrified, and fascinated. It scabbed over and then began to fade in colour. It went from a dark red to a dark pink with puckered edges to a pale line on his palm, and then faded into nothing. Over the course of about thirty seconds. I looked up and into Paul's eyes. His expression was cautious, and he was watching my every move.

"You…it…but the knife…" I couldn't form a whole sentence. I was freaking out. I tried to explain what I had just seen, but I really couldn't. Was I insane? Was I still asleep? Was I dreaming? No, I couldn't have been. My broken arm still hurt like crazy. You weren't supposed to feel things in dreams, right? I pinched myself. Ow. Yeah, I was awake.

"Kate…" Paul took a step towards me. There was something severely wrong with him. That sort of thing shouldn't happen. I held my hands up in defence and slowly backed away, completely terrified. There was _no way_ this guy was human.

"D-Don't touch me! Stay away from me!" He was still walking forward and watching me. I hoped he wouldn't kill me or something. _I_ wouldn't heal in a matter of a few seconds… I kept backing up, matching him step for step, feeling along the wall for some sort of escape. My hand closed around the handle of the back door. I flung it open and sprinted as fast as I could into the woods behind the house. I kept running, periodically tripping over a root or stone. I ignored Paul's pleas to stop and wait, I just threw myself further. Eventually, when his calls ceased, I stopped. I looked around. I had no clue where I was anymore. I heard a twig snap behind me and I whirled around. I couldn't see anything there, but I felt something watching me. I started to panic and I slid down a tree, my back to it and my legs pulled up tight against me.

I needed to get out of this town; it was nothing but freaks and secrets. How many people were involved in this? It was absolutely ridiculous. I understood that I was already registered for school and everything, and that I was sent specifically here by my parents, but maybe I could get them to send me to my Aunt and Uncle in Albuquerque. I hear it's quite nice there. And there probably weren't crazy people who heal too fast or a big town-wide secret that people can't tell newcomers about. I would have to call my mom, who probably wasn't all to pleased with me at the moment. But what else could I do? There was no way of getting out of stupid La Push without it. I sucked in a huge breath and decided that I would do just that. Once I found my way out of these godforsaken woods, I'd call home and demand that I be sent for punishment in another city. I could handle the whole being exiled thing. I just didn't want the drama or the stress. I steeled myself and prepared to get up. My mom couldn't bite me through the phone.

That's when it stepped out of the trees. It could probably bite me. It probably wanted to. All fears of my mother or Paul's crazy fast healing were completely forgotten in that moment.

It was huge; it sort of looked like a dog or a wolf, but there was no way. This thing was the size of a horse. It had razor sharp, white teeth. It's muzzle was pulled back over them menacingly and it was growling as its eyes scanned the area where I was sitting. It had steely gray fur that looked coarse. I sucked in a huge breath and its gaze darted over to me on the forest floor, partially concealed by the bush I was sitting next to. I'm sure my eyes were twice their regular size at this point as they bugged out of their sockets. I started to hyperventilate as I stayed sitting but slid further away from the animal. It stepped forward when I moved back. Ha, it reminded me of Paul. He always did that.

I mentally slapped myself. This was hardly the time to be thinking of him. It was his fault I was in this situation. I hit another tree in my haste. Now there was nowhere to go. Great, fantastic, I was going to die.

The thing stepped forward even further, but stopped when it heard something I didn't. Its ear twitched to the right, so I looked over there too. Nothing happened, but the wolf growled again, low and menacing. It stalked forward, and suddenly another wolf/horse thing leaped out of the woods. It was sandy brown and much smaller, yet still way too massive for me to actually be comfortable with it. It jumped straight onto the gray one's back and both tumbled to the ground. They clawed at each other, snarls escaping both frequently. They rolled in my direction and I scrambled to get out of the way. I stood up while they were preoccupied (probably fighting over who got to eat me) and turned to run. Only to come face to face with yet another of the creatures. This one was by far the largest and was a reddish brown colour. It looked at me briefly before going over to the two that were fighting. I was frozen in place. I couldn't even run anymore. The fight was getting close to me, but I still couldn't move. Huh, I must've been in shock. Whatever the reason, I was about to get knocked over by two animals trying to kill me.

The mass of light brown and gray fur rolled towards me, knocking my feet out from under me. I felt and heard the sickening crack of my head against a rock as I fell down. I felt warmth spreading through my scalp as the pain increased. The animals didn't even seem to notice that I was lying there, bleeding. I was completely defenceless. I tried to stand but only ended up falling onto my stomach. The reddish brown wolf had now joined the fight. They rolled off into the bushes and out of my sight. I started to see black spots in my vision, but I was determined to not pass out here. It couldn't be a good idea to faint while there are three massive things fighting over me. Suddenly, the sandy wolf came back out of the bushes. Huh, he must've won. I got ready for him to kill me, holding my breath and squeezing my eyes shut. They snapped open when I heard another snarl. The gray wolf was back. It lunged at the sandy one, who dodged out of the way. Its huge paw was now officially coming at me. I shut my eyes again but opened them as I felt the shredding pain run from the nape of my neck to my lower back. Blood seeped down my shirt and saturated my skin, the liquid warmth pooling underneath me. My eyes lingered on the stupid little doodle of the massive wolf on my cast as my eyelids drooped. I hoped it wasn't the last thing I'd ever see.

I screamed as loud as I could and promptly passed out.

**A/N: DRAMAAAAA. Hahaha. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It speeds up the story a lot and hopefully things will get a little more interesting from this point forward. I had to include the wolves eventually! Hopefully she'll make a connection sooner than later ;) Oh, and don't bother asking why Paul didn't realize she was hurt or why he didn't help her when she fell. ALLLLL will be explained :) REVIEW, PEOPLE!**

Quick question, though. I got a review asking if I could do a Paul POV sometime soon. I was thinking of doing one at a later point as an interlude kind of thing, but would you guys prefer that I just add it into the actual story and forget about doing the one on the side?

**Love,**

**Sarah Yoko!**


	5. Cut Up and Confused

**A/N: Finally! Jeez, people! Took you long enough ;) Nah, jk. Let's try for six reviews again! (That means, for people who are like "oh, she's already got enough reviews", that there needs to be a total of 21 for me to post.) Anyways, thanks to those who reviewed and good job to XxXAlways-A-DreamerXxX who was the only one to figure it out! Here's the next chapter, enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize!**

Chapter 5: Cut Up and Confused

There was an irritating beeping noise somewhere in the background. It was steady and slow and I found myself trying to anticipate the next beep in my head. Was I dead? Probably. I was surprised by how little that bothered me. Maybe I was just prepared for it. But death couldn't be this annoying, right? Ugh! Where was that beeping coming from? I wanted to destroy it with a sledge hammer; it was only contributing to the painful throbbing in my head. I shifted around a bit to see if I was capable of it. I felt crunchy, starchy sheets underneath me. I was still on my stomach so I couldn't have moved. Did I fall on a blanket? I laughed internally at the absurdity of my thoughts right now. I was delusional.

What was that _beeping_!?

I tried to open my eyes. It was a struggle at first. My lids were so heavy it felt like someone was holding them down, but they eventually fluttered and opened. My head was on a starkly white pillow. I was on some sort of a bed. There were silver rails on the side that I could see and pale green walls behind them. Oh. I was in the hospital. Yay! I could see the hot doctor again.

…Delusional.

I tried to roll over, since the beeping was coming from my other side, but was only greeted with a sharp pain that seemed to be tearing at my skin. I gasped and fell back onto my stomach. My back hurt so much. I was whimpering when I heard a door open somewhere behind me.

"Ah, Kate. Good to see you again," I heard the familiar musical voice of Doctor Cullen say mildly.

"You too," I rasped. I cleared my throat. "Although I wish I knew _why_ I was seeing you again." He chuckled sadly and came around to where I could see him.

"Do you remember anything?" I thought through the hazy sleep that still settled on my mind.

"I remember Paul…he cut himself…I ran away and then there were these huge animals," I heard the beeping accelerate. "And they were fighting, and then…and then…" I trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud for fear that it would make the whole ordeal that much more real.

"I suppose you do remember, then," he said quietly. He sighed. "You have some visitors. Should I tell them you're ready to see people?" I hesitated. I had no desire to see Paul right now, but I somehow knew he'd be there.

"Who's here?"

"Well, there's your Aunt, as well as Jacob Black and Paul Hatch…" He said Paul's name nervously, like he knew I wouldn't want to see him. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see Jake either. I mean, what if he was a crazy fast non-human healer thing too?

"Um, if it's okay, I'd just like to see my Aunt. No one else," I told him. He nodded solemnly and walked around my bed. I heard a door open and half-close. Then I heard the talking.

"She's awake now," I heard Doc tell them.

"Great. Can we see her?" Paul asked. The beeping accelerated again.

"She's asking to see just her Aunt," he hedged. Probably didn't want to tell him he couldn't come in. Coward.

"Does that mean I can't go in?" Paul asked angrily. I could almost see him start doing his weird shaking/growling routine.

"Well, yes," he told him. Yeah, I wouldn't want to cross the crazy inhuman guy either, Doc.

"Did she specifically say that?"

"Yes." Paul groaned.

"I'm so stupid." Yes, yes you are Paul. And psycho. "I should have kept following her; I shouldn't have let her go so far into the woods." No, you really shouldn't have followed me. I was quite pleased when you stopped.

"Well, she would like to see her Aunt, so if you will just follow me," I heard two sets of footsteps coming into the room and a door shutting behind them. Aunt Julie sat down on a chair in front of me and Doc leaned against the wall.

"So, why am I here?" I asked, not entirely sure anymore.

"Well, you suffered an animal attack," Doc told me matter-of-factly. Thanks, tips.

"What's the damage?"

"You received severe lacerations to your upper, middle and lower back. You cracked two ribs but luckily your spine was in tact. You suffered some blood loss from the wounds but not enough for brain damage. In the long term, the only issue will be three scars extending from your neck to waistline. Deep tissue wounds won't completely disappear, I'm afraid," he explained. I took a minute to process everything.

"Okay. So who brought me back?" Both looked confused. "I mean, the animals were in the middle of the forest. I was nowhere near home."

"Oh, sweetheart, Paul found you and carried you to his car and drove you here. He said he heard you scream," Aunt Julie told me softly. The beeping started to get irregular and fast. Doctor Cullen looked concerned.

"Kate? You need to calm down," he said, frowning. Oh, the beeping was a heart monitor. Why didn't I pick up on that before?

"What's wrong?" Julie asked me.

"Paul…there's something weird about him. Something not right," I said, not willing to tell them he wasn't human. I didn't want to be called injured _and_ crazy. Doc and Julie exchanged a glance. They knew! "What? What do you know that I don't?" Both remained silent. Then Doc changed the subject.

"Well, you should be able to go home by the end of tomorrow," he told me, while injecting something into my IV line. He noticed my suspicious look. "It's just pain medication. Your wounds must be uncomfortable." I nodded, and then something hit me.

"How come I can go home so early? I've only been here since…wait, how long have I been here?"

"Well, Kate, it's been five days," Julie told me. My eyes bulged. Five days!? Seeing my expression, Doc explained.

"We had to keep you sedated for most of it. You would have been in too much pain." Wow. Five days. "So, if you take your medicine we'll give you, you can leave here finally." I smiled a little and he nodded back at me, leaving the room.

I spent the rest of that day and the next alternating between sleeping, chatting with Aunt Julie, and denying Paul and Jake's attempts to visit. Finally, I was able to go home. Julie helped me to sit up, which pulled at the stitches in my back painfully. I didn't even care; I just wanted out of there. I waddled awkwardly across the room where she helped me into some regular, loose-fitting clothes rather than the silly backless hospital gown. It was a quiet ride home. I was fighting off whimpers of pain and trying to keep my back from hitting the seat. Aunt Julie looked…indecisive. Once I finally got home, I was settled on the couch with a million fluffy pillows to rest my back on, equipped with the TV remote and the little bottle of pain pills. About an hour and three CSI Miami re-runs later, the doorbell rang. Julie was out and I was incapable of moving, so I just shouted out a "Come in!" and peeked over the couch to see who was at the door. Two people walked in. The first one was a man who looked vaguely similar to the rest of the guys I'd met. He was even more muscular though, and his face hinted at a bit more maturity. Behind him was Paul.

"Oh, no. No, no. You need to leave," I told them, panicking slightly. I couldn't exactly force them out the door in my position.

"Come on, Kate, we need to talk," Paul said pleadingly. I narrowed my eyes at him and pointed at the door. He didn't move.

"Kate –" the other man started, but I cut him off.

"Why are you here? I don't even know you!" He sighed.

"I'm Sam Uley. Pleased to meet you," he said. His voice was very gravelly and definitely older than the other guys.

"Awesome. So why are you here?" I asked, hostility evident in my tone.

"Like Paul said, we need to talk." He sounded so authoritative it was difficult to tell him otherwise. He walked over to where Paul was standing at the end of the couch, near the wall.

"No we don't. I don't want to talk to him right now," I said. I worked to fight off the desperate edge to my comment.

"Kate, we're talking. Whether you like it or not," he told me, frowning. I gaped. Who did he think he was?

"This is _my_ house. You can't just walk in here and tell me what to do!" I growled. Paul sighed and looked down, frowning.

"You're not in a position to do much about it, are you?" Sam taunted. Stupid boy. I crossed my arms and pouted. "There's a lot of stuff we need to cover, so please don't be afraid or anything. It's all okay." What did he mean by that? He wasn't _that _intimidating. "So, first thing's first. What do you know about Quileutes?"

"They're excessively pushy," I muttered. He chuckled a bit.

"I meant about our history." I shrugged.

"I know the legends and stuff, Aunt Julie used to tell me them before bed when I slept over here as a kid." He nodded.

"So you know all about the protectors and the cold ones?" I nodded. "What would you do if I told you it was all real?"

"Call the mental hospital," I suggested sarcastically. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Paul was just sort of standing there uncomfortably still.

"Kate, it's all real. All of it. The animals you saw were the werewolves from the stories, and they protect people from the cold ones. You need to believe this, it's going to be part of your life now." I snorted.

"You're crazy. You expect me to believe that? Why would one have mauled me if it was a 'protector'?"

"She didn't mean to," Sam said defensively. I raised an eyebrow. "Look Kate, there's something you should know. The werewolves…well, you know a lot of them." He looked at me, judging my reaction. He obviously believed all of this. He was probably a total nut-job. Why was everyone humouring him? It was sort of cruel. I kept my face blank, though. I motioned for him to continue. "Well, there's me, Paul, Jake, Seth, Embry, Quil, and a few others you were supposed to meet at the bonfire…" I looked at Paul.

"You don't believe us, do you?" Paul asked me angrily.

"Nope," I replied, popping the 'p'. He frowned.

"Then how do you explain the wolves you saw?"

"Um, there are such things as wolves that _don't_ turn into people," I told him sarcastically.

"Have you ever seen a wolf that big?"

"I've never seen a wolf before that at all, except on TV. But those could have just been midgets for all I know."

"Kate, you're so difficult! Why don't you believe me?"

"Because you're insane."

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are."

"No I'm _not!_"

"Yes you _are!_" Sam interrupted our juvenile little fight.

"Paul, just phase for her." I looked at him questioningly. "Phasing is what we call changing forms." I rolled my eyes.

"I…I can't, Sam. What if she gets scared? She's going to pass out or something…" Paul said, trailing off. Sam patted him on the back encouragingly.

"She'll be fine," he told him.

"'She' is sitting right here," I grumbled. Sighing in defeat, Paul held out a hand to me, but I just looked at it.

"Kate, you need to come outside. I can't phase here." I settled further into the couch, shaking my head. I wasn't going anywhere.

"Well then," Sam mumbled, reaching for me. At first he looked like he was going to pick me up bridal style, but then thought better of it while eyeing my back. He settled for grabbing my arms and slinging me on his back like a knapsack. He started walking. I gasped in pain as the hunched over position I was forced to hold pulled my stitches, but clamped my arms and legs around him anyways. He walked through the kitchen and out the back door behind Paul, me holding on for dear life. He stopped just outside the door while Paul continued to the fringe of the trees. He started to walk into the forest as Sam set me down.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I asked. Paul stared at me.

"I'm going to phase," he said slowly. I shook my head.

"No, I mean, why can't you do it in front of me?" Sam and Paul both laughed.

"My clothes don't pop in and out of existence, Kate," he said, still laughing.

"No way. You could just _pretend_ to 'phase' or whatever. I need to see it. I'll hold up a hand or something," I replied with a shrug. To demonstrate, I held my palm in the air so that it was covering him from the waist down. He blushed and I laughed at him. Scowling, he peeled off his shirt (swoon) and then his shorts (double swoon). Then he started to shake. He was vibrating, his entire outline starting to blur. Suddenly, his skin exploded into a mass of silvery grey fur, a darker version of the colour of the wolf that cut me up. He was huge. I just stared at him. The wolf started to shake again and then seemed to disintegrate back into a human. He was Paul again. I wasn't really all that afraid; I had seen these wolves before. No, I was mad.

"You guys think you could have told me this earlier?!" I shouted, completely thrown off that all my new friends were total freaks of nature. They both looked shocked.

"You…You're not scared or anything?" Paul asked hesitantly.

"No, I'm just pissed beyond human belief," I spat. "You guys are freaks. Complete and total freaks. Don't talk to me." I headed back into the house and shut the door behind me, locking it. I walked to the front door and locked that too. I headed up to my room, but was stopped when Sam and Paul were both suddenly at the foot of the stairs. I jumped back, shocked.

"Kate, just let us finish. You don't know half of it yet," Paul pleaded.

"No, and I don't really want to either. Now get out." I tried to push past them but neither one moved. Sam gripped my by the shoulders and steered me back to the couch. I fought the whole way, but the stupid guys – err, werewolves – were too strong. He sat me down and Paul sat beside me. I scooted away. They both stared at me in silence, so I decided to voice my most pressing question.

"So who's the one who mauled me?" I asked nonchalantly. Paul started to shake and his hands clenched into fists. I turned to him, fuming. "Don't you dare, Paul. I swear to God I'll kill you." He stopped shaking but still looked angry. Sam sighed.

"That was Leah."

"So why did she do it?"

"She didn't mean to!" He defended again.

"I didn't ask that." I tried to stay calm, but I was angry. They insist on talking, yet they avoid my questions?

"She…she was mad. Her, Seth, and Jacob were on patrol and she picked up your scent. She heard Paul thinking about you –" I cut him off.

"Wait, she heard him _thinking_?" I asked incredulously. "And what are they patrolling for?"

"That's part of the werewolf thing. When we're in our wolf forms, we can hear each other's thoughts. It goes with the heat, the fast healing, the speed, strength, and all that." I nodded. "And they were patrolling for vampires." Inside, I was freaking out. But I needed my answer and refused to be sidetracked.

"Cool. Okay, back to the story." They both stared at me before Sam continued.

"Anyways, she had heard Paul thinking about you and knew you were resisting the imprint –"

"What's an imprint?"

"I'll let Paul tell you that." I looked at Paul who glared at Sam.

"Fine," Paul said. "An imprint is how we find our perfect mate. It happens the first time you see them after you phase, and it's sort of like gravity. She's all that matters, she's holding you here, nothing else. You become anything they want, be it a friend, brother, protector or…a lover. It used to be rare, but a lot of the pack has done it." I nodded.

"Sort of like love at first sight?" He smiled a bit and nodded.

"Only a million times stronger."

"Have you imprinted?"

"Yes," he said. After a long pause, he whispered, "On you." I fidgeted uncomfortably.

"That's inconvenient. Anyways, Sam. Continue," I said, turning back to Sam. I didn't want to discuss this imprinting business anymore. He hesitated, and then started again.

"She knew you were resisting the imprint and it bothered her. She wished she'd been imprinted on…" He trailed off. I motioned for him to continue. "She and I used to date, until I started phasing. Long story short, I imprinted on her cousin and now we're together. She was mad because you were rejecting what she wanted most in life. She wasn't thinking and was going to attack you. Seth, her brother, brought her down before she could and they fought for a while, as you probably remember." I nodded. "Well, then Jake showed up and tried to tell them to stop. Leah refused to leave you alone, so Jake and Seth tried to haul her away. Seth came back to make sure you were fine, but Leah got away from Jake and jumped at him. He dodged it, but you were too close and got the hit. I guess you passed out, but right after that Paul showed up and attacked Leah. She's at home right now, recovering." I gaped. I thought they healed fast.

"What happened to her?" Paul shifted awkwardly and cleared his throat.

"I…well…You just don't attack someone's imprint, and she did, so I got mad. I phased and attacked her. I ended up breaking her arm and both legs." I stared at him. At least I knew who some of the wolves were. I guess the light gray one was Leah, the sandy one was Seth, and the reddish-brown one was Jake. Then I realized something.

"Why isn't she in the hospital?!" I said loudly. Paul chuckled darkly.

"That would only make her sicker." Why was everyone against the hospital?!

"What do you mean?"

"We run a temperature of one-oh-eight point nine. We should be dead." Oh. That made sense. "Plus, the head doctor is a vamp." I blanched. Why would they hire a vampire? Wouldn't he just…eat all his patients? "You met him actually. Remember _Doctor _Cullen?" He said "doctor" like it was a dirty word. Oh. My. God! Hot doctor was a vampire! He could have killed me! At least now I understood why Paul hated him so much.

"Oh," I said weakly. They nodded with grim expressions.

"Well, I think you've had enough stress for one day," Sam said cheerfully, pushing off the wall and heading for the door. "I'll leave you two kids to it." I scowled at him as he left, then turned to Paul. He looked uncomfortable.

"So now I know what the doodle was about on my cast," I said, pointing to the little girl and big wolf, as well as the "yours" label. "I just thought you sucked at sizing." He laughed awkwardly and looked down.

"What?" I asked him. He looked over and ran a hand through his hair.

"I know you just want to blow it off, but we really need to talk about imprinting." I shook my head vehemently, but he ignored it. "I need to know what you want me to be. I take it you don't want me as a lover," he laughed sadly. "But what _do_ you want?"

"Do I only have a choice of those four things?" I asked. What if I didn't want him here at all? Would he leave? He had to do what I told him to, right?

"I…I guess not. But what else is there?" He asked rhetorically.

"What if I don't want you as a part of my life?"

"Well, school starts in another few days so you'll have to see me anyways," he joked, avoiding my question. Ugh. School. I had completely forgotten. But still, I refused to be sidetracked.

"You know what I mean. What if I don't want you as a friend, brother, protector _or_ lover? What if I want you gone?"

"Well," he said, standing up and walking over to where my head was resting against the cushion. "If you don't want me, I'm not going to tell you that you have to." I nodded, appeased. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, ignoring my attempts to get out of the way. He held his boiling hot lips there a moment longer then pulled away. "But it's not going to get me to stop trying." I frowned and started to protest, but he put a huge hand over my mouth and grinned. "You'll be mine soon enough." He winked and walked out the door.

**A/N: There you go! I told you I'd fill you in ;) This was a big chapter, development-wise. Really, why would Paul growl at her? **

**To clear things up, it says in New Moon (p. 325) that Paul is a dark grey wolf. Later on in Eclipse (p. 399), it says Leah is the light grey one. Yeah, that's right, I looked it up. Just for you :P Hahaha to anyone I managed to fool :D**

**Love, **

**Sarah Yoko!**


	6. Swiss Cheese Jeans and Wandering Hands

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Same rule applies, so we need to hit 27 reviews before I update :) Without further ado, here's chapter six!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize!**

Chapter 6: Swiss Cheese Jeans and Wandering Hands

I stared at my closet, suddenly wishing I'd taken my mom up on her offer to go shopping before I left. Most of my wardrobe consisted of t-shirts and shorts, none of which were appropriate for La Push's cold, rainy weather. I hadn't run into this dilemma yet since I'd gotten here. After all, I'd spent a good portion of that time injured, wearing comfortable sweats. I hadn't even realized I _had_ a dilemma until about ten minutes ago. I would have to get Julie to drive me to the nearest mall first chance I got. However, it was too late to do anything now. I would just have to endure it. Sigh.

After much deliberation, I ended up in the only pair of jeans I owned. They were skinny jeans that were dark washed and distressed. They had carefully placed holes throughout, essential for wearing long pants at all back in Florida. They were affectionately named my "Swiss cheese pants" by my friends. Anyways, I was wearing those as well as a navy tank top. I took my time easing on the shirt over my jagged cuts and was set to wear my backless white shirt over top. Then I realized I wasn't all that into making a spectacle of my scars, so I settled for a high-necked white zip-up sweatshirt. The fabric rubbed unpleasantly against my torn skin, making me shudder when I moved too quickly. _This is fun_, I thought sarcastically. It was the best I could do, and I knew that I would freeze today. With a resigned sigh, I finished getting ready and stomped downstairs.

"There's more hole than denim in those pants, Kate," Aunt Julie said with a laugh. I scowled at her.

"I know, trust me. But my Swiss cheese pants are the only pair of jeans I own!" She gaped at me, and then recovered.

"Kate! You should have told me you had no pants to wear! I would have taken you shopping," she insisted.

"I didn't even realize. I've only been wearing sweats and pj's over the last couple weeks, thanks to a certain group of dogs," I growled out. Julie was trying to stifle a laugh, so I just rolled my eyes at her. I grabbed a packet of strawberry Pop-Tarts and sat down.

"Are you walking in today?" She asked, changing the subject. I guess she didn't feel like listening to me complain about my lack of non-mutant friends. I shrugged.

"I guess so. It's not too far, I'm not going to ask for a ride," I told her. She looked worried.

"I can call one of the boys if you'd like a drive in," she offered. I shook my head vehemently, but she ignored it. "Yeah, that's what I'll do. Just give me one second. They'll be here right after I call." She reached for the phone, but I was too quick. I yanked the wire between the handset and modem off both ends and ran upstairs with it. I put it under the mattress; as far back as I could reach. I walked back downstairs, thoroughly satisfied. She just stared at me.

"That wasn't all too mature, Kate," she said sternly. I smiled angelically back. "You seem to forget that Jake lives next door." I blanched. I grabbed my worn and abused canvas bag, filled with notepads and pens. Yanking on my red rain jacket, I bolted out the door. And I hit a wall.

"Kate?" I guess it wasn't a wall.

"Hi, Jake," I said with a sigh. He laughed at me.

"In a hurry?"

"Um, yes. So if you'll excuse me," I said, trying to dodge around him. He stepped in my way with a grin.

"Where are you going?"

"School." Please don't offer a ride, please don't offer a ride, please don't offer a ride…

"Want a ride?" Damn.

"She'd love one!" Aunt Julie piped up from inside the house. I glared at her over my shoulder.

"Err, no. I'm just gonna walk. I'll be fine. Thanks anyways…" I tried to get around him again and he let me, only to grab me around the shoulders when I was off the front porch. He towed me back to a little red car that looked older than me. He just smiled proudly at it. I rolled my eyes. Boys and their cars. He walked me all the way to the passenger door, even going so far as to open the door, shove me in, and close it behind me. He walked back around and got in behind the wheel.

"We need to pick up Kim and Jared. They live a street over." I nodded, not that I had a choice in the matter. Jake chattered happily at me while I just stared out the window silently. We pulled up at a dark green house and Jake honked the horn. Jared came out immediately, towing a tiny native girl behind him. She was pretty and very kind looking. She got in the car and smiled at me.

"Hi, I'm Kate," I said with a smile of my own.

"Kim," she said shyly. Jared just watched her adoringly while she blushed under his gaze. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her across the back seat towards him, placing a kiss on the top of her head. She blushed deeper and he laughed lightly. She noticed me watching and smiled sheepishly with a little shrug. I laughed and turned back towards the front. We got to the "Quileute Tribal School" shortly afterwards. Oh jeez. I so wasn't going to fit in. Nearly everyone there had varying shades of the familiar dark hair and copper skin I had gotten used to. There was the odd person who didn't, but you could still see the culture in at least one or two of their features. I wasn't even remotely Quileute. I stood out like a sore thumb. But, naturally, fate didn't think it was bad enough to make me the odd one out. He had to make it into a spectacle.

"HEY! HEY KATE! KATE!" Paul shouted over the combined voices of the students. Anyone within hearing range looked at me. I groaned and buried my face in my hands. I didn't even know he had managed to push through the throng of excited people greeting each other after summer until he was right in front of me, prying my fingers from my face. He pulled me close, ignoring my struggles, and kissed my forehead.

"Paul! Quit it! Let me go!" He laughed and held me tighter. "You know, I'd punch you right now if it wouldn't crack my other arm." He grimaced at the mention of my still-casted arm. He let go of me for a second, only to wrap his arm tightly around my waist. I hissed in pain as it tugged at my back. He released me immediately, his face showing his shock and horror. I tried to smile at him, but it came out more as a grimace. He held me around the arms and shoulders again, burying his face in my hair. He inhaled subtly, but I noticed and laughed.

"Are you seriously sniffing me right now?" I asked. He didn't move his face from my hair but nodded into it. I laughed again. "Could you not?" He shook his head 'no'. I tried to reach his head to force him out, but he had my arms pinned in his embrace.

"No, stop moving," he mumbled into my neck. I restrained a shiver.

"What are you doing?" I asked, frustrated. He was making a show in front of a bunch of people I didn't even know yet!

"Staking a claim," he replied, pulling his head away. He took one arm away from my shoulders to brush the hair out of my face. I used my newly freed arm to slap his hand away. He grinned.

"What do you mean?" I was suspicious. He wouldn't purposely make this kind of spectacle, would he?

"I mean, I'm claiming you as mine," he put the arm around me again and stared at my face. I scowled as he leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "In front of the _entire _school. I want them to know you're taken." I wriggled in his grasp.

"But I'm _not_ yours, and I'm _not _taken!"

"They don't have to know that."

"Ugh! You're impossible!" He smiled.

"Maybe. But you love it," he said cockily.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do!"

"Uh oh, Jake! The lovers are fighting!" Jared said with a cheeky grin. I scowled at him.

"I think Kate's winning," Jake said. I smiled at him.

"I think so too," I said.

"So you admit you're lovers?"

"What?"

"You agreed you were winning the fight."

"…Yes?"

"But I said that _the lovers_ were fighting. So you agreed to that too." I looked up at Paul but he was just grinning.

"It's not what I meant."

"But it's what you said."

"I officially hate you, Jake."

"No, you love me."

"Maybe," I said, laughing.

"Knew it," he said back. He ruffled my hair and walked off. I turned to Paul, who was now pouting.

"What?" I asked him.

"You'll tell Jake you love him, but you won't say it to me." He pouted again and I rolled my eyes.

"If I say it to Jake, he knows I'm kidding. If I say it to you, you'd propose." He frowned.

"No I wouldn't!" I looked at him sceptically. "I wouldn't!" He insisted. I just kept staring. "Okay, fine, maybe I would." I smiled. The bell rang from behind me and I tried to free myself again. Paul didn't budge.

"You're going to have to let me go. I need to get my schedule and stuff still." He thought about it for a minute and released me. Before I knew what was happening, he bent down and knocked my legs out from under me. He slung me across his back carefully; much like Sam had done before. He gripped behind me knees and started walking. I nearly flipped backwards from the bouncing movements so I locked my arms around his neck.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked smugly.

"No," I grumbled back. He just laughed and hiked me further up on his back, his hands travelling up my thighs. "Watch it," I warned, but he ignored me. He ran his thumb over one of the holes in my jeans, massaging it in little circles. "Quit that!"

"Nope, I'm having fun," he said, smiling. I tried to kick my legs, but he held me tight. His hands travelled even further up. I tried, unsuccessfully, to escape again, but he ignored it. I leaned forward and bit his ear. He let out a startled yelp and I laughed with satisfaction.

"I'll bite you again if you don't let me go," I told him, trying to make my amused voice sound more threatening.

"Go ahead. It's kind of kinky." I groaned in defeat, but luckily his hands stopped roaming. He walked, me in tow, into the school. He took me into the office and set me on my feet again. I scowled at him and approached the counter where an older native woman was typing something into her ancient-looking computer.

"Hi, I'm Kate Marshall," I said in a friendly voice. She didn't even look up.

"What do you need?" She asked bluntly in a bored voice.

"Err, I'm a new student. I need my schedule." She looked up at me, exasperated, like it was my fault. I grinned back and she turned away, shuffling through a stack of papers. She plucked two from near the top and slapped them on the desk, making me jump. Without looking, she spoke.

"First one is your schedule. Second one is a map."

"Thanks," I said as politely as I could. I grabbed the sheets and left the office. I looked at the schedule briefly: English, Math, Chemistry, Lunch, Art, Gym, and Biology. Not too bad. I started searching for the locker noted at the top of the sheet when Paul snatched it from my hands. "Hey! I need that!"

"No you don't. You've got English, Chemistry, and lunch with me. Kim is in your Math class, and Jake is in all of your afternoon classes. Someone can show you around, you don't need it. But first let's find your locker!" He grabbed my hand and towed me through the halls, pushing through the crowd of rushing students and clearing a path for me. He stopped at a locker in the middle of nowhere. I grabbed the schedule back from him and used the combination listed to open my lock. After putting in my coat, I shut it and turned to face Paul, who was staring at me.

"Lead the way," I told him. He didn't move, so I pushed past him and started walking. His arm snared around my shoulders.

"You're going the wrong way," he said with a laugh.

"Well, I wouldn't be if you led the way like I asked," I said back sourly. He spun me around and dragged me down another obscure hall and into a class. Still keeping his hold on me, he walked me up to the teacher.

"Hey Mrs. Barkley. This is our new student, Kate." I smiled slightly when she looked up at me.

"Hello, Kate. Hi, Paul. Well, you know the drill. Take a seat anywhere. We're about to begin." He grinned at her and towed me to a seat next to him in the centre of the classroom.

"What if I didn't want to sit next to you?" I whispered to him, since class had started.

"Too bad," he whispered back. Class was pretty uneventful, except for the times I had to slap Paul's hands away from massaging the skin exposed by my jeans. "Stop hitting me," he hissed.

"Stop touching me," I retorted.

"It's not my fault there's holes in your pants."

"You don't need to touch them!"

"Yes I do. They're available and practically asking for it!" His hands travelled back to the hole on my thigh. I slapped his hand again with a sigh.

"You don't see everyone else doing that."

"It's only because they're not next to you, Kate."

"No, it's because they aren't insisting that I love them but don't know it yet."

"Face it, Kate. You love me." I flipped him off under the desk and he chuckled under his breath. "Feisty. I like it." I folded my arms on the table and let my head drop into them with a groan. Class went by quickly afterwards, and soon Paul was walking me to the door of my Math room. Before he could do anything about it, I ducked under his arm and took off into the classroom. I searched the room for Kim and finally found her, sitting next to an empty seat in the back. I walked up to her and she pulled her bag off the chair so I could sit. I thanked her with a smile, but she was looking at the door and giggling. I looked over too to see what was so funny. Paul was standing there pouting, his arms folded across his chest dejectedly. I laughed too and he scowled. I motioned for him to leave, but he didn't. He only got the message when I chucked my pencil at his head. He caught it and tossed it lightly back, but left anyways.

Math was complete torture. Kim was nice and all, but very quiet and reserved. She wouldn't talk in class. At all. On top of that, there was a boy with dark brown hair spiked up with gel staring at me. He smiled and winked, so I turned away with a shudder. He left me alone after that. When it was finally over, Paul was already waiting outside the door impatiently. He walked me to Chemistry in silence but I didn't question it. To be honest, I sort of enjoyed being without his near-constant onslaught of snide comments. We got there and he opened the door for me politely, still silent. I found a seat and sat down. Paul sat next to me and leaned back, observing the classroom. His eyes froze and locked on to something behind me, a low growl vibrating in his chest. I turned to follow his gaze. There was a boy with long black hair pulled into a low ponytail grinning at me. I smiled back and his grew. He waltzed over looking very confident, yet still studiously avoiding Paul's glare.

"Hey there, I'm Nathan," he said, leaning a little too close for comfort.

"I'm Kate," I replied, leaning away.

"Nathan," Paul said stiffly. Nathan finally looked at him.

"P-Paul," he stuttered back. Huh. I guess Paul was scary. I didn't really see how; he was less than intimidating around me. Well, when he was human. Paul wrapped a protective arm around me from behind, draping over my stomach and pulling me close. Nathan's eyes widened. "Are you two dating?" He asked.

"No," I said at the same time Paul said "Yes." Nathan grinned cockily.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"It's a no," I replied before Paul could, levelling a glare at his now-frustrated expression.

"Great," Nathan said cheerily. "In that case, Kate, would you like to go to dinner with me Friday night?" I stared at him. He was clearly suicidal. I felt rather than heard Paul's growl from behind me. His whole body was shaking. I laid a hand on his arm around me and he calmed immediately.

"No, she wouldn't Nathan," he said menacingly. I glared at him. He was _not_ in charge of me.

"Actually, Nathan, Paul here doesn't know what he's talking about. I'd love –" I started. But before I could finish, Paul's hand clamped around my mouth.

"No. She. Wouldn't." He said each word slowly, never letting me speak. "Now leave." Nathan scurried away quickly and I tried to tell Paul to get his hand off my mouth and let me go, but it came out like,

"Mft mmm mmff mff mm mmmth, mmm mmt mm mmff!" He laughed and pulled his hand off my mouth.

"What's that, love?" I scowled.

"I'm not your love!" I nearly yelled. He laughed.

"Not yet," he said simply.

"Ugh! Never! And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do? What if I wanted to go out with him?!" His smile dropped off.

"Too bad, you're _mine,_" he said in my ear. I wrenched myself out of his grip and leaned as far away as I could in the desk.

"No, I'm not. Leave me alone." He didn't reply and I grumbled incoherently for a bit while he tried to get my attention. He waved his hands around and mouthed words silently, trying not to get caught by the teacher. Finally, his hands started to snake up to my legs. I finally turned to him. "If you value your life, you better not touch me right now." He blanched and dropped his hands into his lap. "Damn straight," I mumbled under my breath. He chuckled. I tried to take notes through the rest of class and ignore the god sitting beside me. I was just starting to forget his presence when the bell rang and he rose from his seat, extending a hand to me. I stood up on my own, leaving his hand dangling uselessly. I figured I could find the cafeteria on my own, so I stormed off without him. His arm went around my shoulders but I shook it off, pushing open the heavy doors to the lunch room.

"Kate! Over here!" I looked over and Jake was waving like a maniac from a table filled with all the guys I'd met before. I rolled my eyes and waved back. After quickly buying my lunch and smoothly avoiding Paul's grasp, I walked over and sat down in between Jake and Kim, ignoring the two seats Paul had already pulled out for us. He frowned as I slung my bag over the back of the chair and settled in. He sat down in one of the chairs and stared at me. Jake looked between us and laughed.

"What did you do now, Paul?" Embry asked.

"Did you beat anyone up?" Quil added.

"Did you threaten someone's life?" Embry re-added. They made a good tag team.

"Did you –"

"Shut up!" I said, laughing. They laughed too and high-fived each other. Everyone looked on with a smile except for Paul, who was scowling.

"Aw, poor Paul. What happened?" Jake asked with mock concern and an over exaggerated pout. I laughed.

"Nothing," Paul grumbled.

"Really? It doesn't look like nothing," Jake pressed.

"Fine. Stupid Nathan Carmon and Brian Halley were talking about her," he motioned to me with his head. "In every class." I guess that all explains the angry silence after second period. "And then Nathan asked her out." He growled. Jake laughed.

"Sweet. Kate, what did you say? Did you say yes? _Please_ tell me you said yes," Jared said with a grin. I grinned back.

"I would've, except Paul covered my mouth and told him to go away." I pouted and everyone laughed.

"Good job, my man," Seth said, patting him on the back. I gaped.

"You're on _his_ side Seth? Does our friendship mean nothing to you!?" I pretended to wipe away a tear. Everyone laughed again and Jake spoke up.

"We're all on his side, Kate. It's sort of our job. Besides, we all know you'll give in to the imprint sooner or later. It's only a matter of time." I frowned.

"Are you seriously convinced that I'm going to love him?" I asked incredulously. I got a chorus of "Yes's" and "Yup's". I scowled and stood up, grabbing my bag. "I hate you all." I stalked out of the cafeteria. I walked out the front doors and sat on the edge of the stairs, trying to avoid the sheeting rain. Why did I have to love him? Didn't I get a choice in this? Apparently not, judging by the reactions I got. They were all so sure that I would eventually give in. I was suddenly warmer, so I looked over to see which wolf had sat next to me. Unsurprisingly, it was Paul.

"Sorry 'bout that," he mumbled sheepishly. "We all kind of get ahead of ourselves."

"No kidding," I said. I expected him to laugh, but instead he just sighed.

"I really am sorry," he said sincerely. I nodded in recognition, but said nothing. He put his arm around my shoulders and for once I didn't move. The bell rang, so I stood up to go get Jake before he left for class. Paul stood up with me and walked into the school. I spotted Jake and went to get him, but Paul was standing there. With a wistful smile, he let me go and headed down a hall in the opposite direction.

I went through my final classes numbly. Jake seemed to realize that I wasn't all there but left me to my thoughts. Did I have a choice, or was this all pre-planned? Couldn't he just be my friend? Or did I have to give in? Was all my rejection hurting him? I had no way of knowing the answer to any of my questions if I didn't ask someone. But I really didn't want to. The only people I could talk to were completely biased and would likely push me to go for Paul regardless. I wished I could tell more people about the werewolf thing, just to get a fair opinion. But I couldn't. I had to try to understand on my own and make a decision from there. The final bell brought me to the present and I quickly packed up my books. I dropped off any textbooks I didn't need in my locker and grabbed my coat. I followed the crowd out the front doors, where someone grabbed my jacket sleeve and pulled me to the side. I looked up.

"Can I drive you home?" Paul asked huskily. I was hesitant. I really didn't want to be alone with him, but his face looked so hopeful and nervous that I didn't have the heart to turn him down. I nodded and he beamed. I looked over at the little red car where Jake was waving me over frantically. With a resigned sigh I shook my head and pointed at Paul. I scowled at Jake's grin, following Paul to his shiny silver SUV and getting in. He turned on the radio (the sacred radio!) and surprisingly it was at my favourite station. I looked at him quizzically.

"Don't knock it. I happen to like this kind of music." He told me defensively. I smiled.

"No, no. This is my favourite station; I just didn't know you listened to it." He seemed overjoyed at this little discovery and nearly broke his face with a smile. He grinned in silence the rest of the way home. When he pulled up outside my house, he turned to me.

"So," he started. He ran a hand through his short hair nervously. "I'm going to try to be less forward with you. I talked to Sam about it, and he reminded me that part of you being my imprint is me being what you want. If you don't want me like that, I'll be your friend." _Hallelujah_, I sang in my head. I guess we were on the same track again.

"Alright," I said simply.

"That sounds good?" He confirmed unsurely. I nodded. He put a hand on my leg. "Okay. I'll try."

"Great," I said back quickly, eager to escape this awkward atmosphere. I pulled my bag off the floor and turned towards the door, grasping the handle.

"Oh, wait," Paul said. I turned back. He was grinning wickedly. "I said I'd try. I never said I'd succeed." His fingers travelled back up to the hole in my pants as he massaged it. I rolled my eyes and pulled my leg away from his wandering hands, running into the house and out of the rain. I was definitely going to have to talk to that boy. But first, I needed to burn these jeans.

**A/N: WOO! Longest chapter yet! That's intense. Hahaha, hope you liked it. NOW REVIEW! :D**


	7. Scare Tactics and Decision Making

**A/N: Wow, great response everyone :) I ask for six reviews, you give me 9! Great job! Sorry for the wait, I never expected so many reviews to come in so fast! So let's try for 9 reviews again before an update, shall we? That's for a grand total of 45 reviews. OH! And be sure to head over to my friend musicrush93's page and read Public Transit! It's only a couple chapters in but it looks good so far :) The story is under my favourites.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize.**

Chapter 7: Scare Tactics and Decision Making

As soon as I made it into the house, I tore off my Swiss cheese pants. I stumbled a bit as one leg caught on my foot but recovered quickly. I walked up to my room and grabbed a pair of track pants to replace them and tossed the jeans in my laundry hamper. Aunt Julie wasn't home yet, so I got started on my homework. I didn't have much; after all, it was the first day of school. I sped through what little I did have and was finished not ten minutes later. I sighed. There was nothing to do in La Push. I hadn't made too many friends outside the guys and Kim so far, so it wasn't like I had anyone to just call and chat with. I decided I needed to get out. After all, I had no other Washington-proof clothes, so I might as well check out what shops there were in the town over. I realized then that I couldn't exactly go out in my sweats. I stomped over to the hamper and pulled out my jeans with a scowl and put them back on.

Things just weren't going my way today.

I grabbed my wallet and house keys, shoving them into a tiny worn leather purse. I slung it over my shoulder and ran downstairs. I clumsily scrawled out a note to Julie telling her I went out and would be back before six. It was three now; I figured that gave me enough time to waste. I left the house, locking the door behind me, and started walking. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I was pretty sure that anywhere was better than La Push, shopping-wise at least.

After what seemed like forever, I made it past La Push limits and entered a tiny patch of forest before signs of life started reappearing. I guessed I was in Forks now. The houses looked just as compact and small-townish as they had before. Clearly, there wasn't much to do here either. Finally, I stumbled upon a plaza. It wasn't much, just a grocery store, convenience store and a bank. I skipped it entirely, starting to wonder if that was the only commercial part of Forks. I wouldn't be surprised. I was proved otherwise when the houses became fewer and farther between and tiny shops started to show up. There was nearly no clothing stores like I'd been looking for. I saw a sporting goods store declaring itself as "Newton's" as well as a general store and an auto repair shop. Sadly enough, the most promising store was Newton's. Joy. I walked into the store and heard an irritating bell announce my presence. A girl about my age was working the cash and glanced up with a smile. I smiled back. Maybe she could be a real, non-mythical friend. I made my way up to her as she looked down to ring in the only other patron in the store.

"Hi," I said timidly after the customer had left. She was sorting through some papers under the counter, seemingly unaware that I was there. She jumped a little when she heard my voice and blushed hard, smiling at me.

"Hi," she said back. She was really quite pretty. She had dark brown hair and shining chocolate eyes, as well as skin as pale as mine.

"I'm Kate," I offered, trying to make conversation. "I'm new."

"I'm Bella. Nice to meet you Kate," she replied. I smiled. "So, will you be going to Forks High?"

"No, I live down in La Push. I go to the Quileute Tribal School." I rolled my eyes. "I'm probably the palest person there." She laughed.

"I wouldn't doubt that," she said, laughing too. "A few of my friends go there. Maybe you know them?" I shrugged. I hardly knew anyone.

"Who?"

"Jacob Black, Embry Call, Quil Ateara, all those guys," she told me. I grinned.

"Yup, those guys and their whole group are the only people I know, actually." I vaguely wondered how much Bella knew. Did she already know they were werewolves or was she as oblivious as I wish I'd been? She eyed me suspiciously as I did the same.

"How _well_ do you know them?" She asked quickly.

"Pretty well," I answered defensively. She nodded to herself. The little bell over the door rang again. Bella's face lit up into a face-splitting grin and I turned. Two _gorgeous_ people walked in, clearly people Bella knew. One was a boy. He was tall and lanky with bronze coloured hair. The other was a short pixie girl with black spikes pointing in various directions. They both had the same chalky skin tone, though they didn't look related. As they got closer, I noticed they also had the same shade of bright gold eyes. Huh. That's a pretty colour, not one you see every day. It looked familiar though. The boy looked at me. He was pretty cute, but he also kind of freaked me out. For some reason he was staring at me curiously. Not necessarily in an unfriendly way, but certainly not friendly either. What was _with_ these people and the odd staring contests? It sort of reminded me of Paul and all the other wolves. His eyes locked on mine and I shrank away from his intense gaze. _Awkwarrrd, _I mentally sang. The corner of his lip twitched; I wonder what he was smiling about. As I thought about it, the tiny girl stepped forward.

"Hi, I'm Alice," she said, grinning hugely as she sized me up. She stuck out her hand for me to shake. I took it and restrained a flinch from the icy temperature. I was used to the boiling hot embraces of the wolves, but the cold somehow seemed as familiar as the eyes.

"I'm Kate," I replied with a smile.

"I'm Edward," I heard the boy add. He was behind me now; I never noticed him move. He was so quiet. Again, like the wolves. I wondered if these two were werewolves too… Edward made a sound of disgust and I looked at him questioningly. He didn't acknowledge it, just bent down to place a soft kiss on Bella's bright red cheek. They were a good couple, they matched up well. As I thought this, Edward pulled her closer and smiled. I smiled back but looked away. He was a strange one.

"So," Alice said, rocking back and forth on her heels. "What are you up to, Kate?" I looked at her and smiled.

"I was trying to find a place to get some clothes, but Forks and La Push are both sadly understocked." I pouted and she beamed.

"You like shopping?" She was now bouncing in place and I laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Yes! Well, at least, I used to. I haven't had a chance to go in a while since I left Key West. I really need to though; all my clothes are too light for this kind of weather." I replied. Alice squealed.

"We should go shopping! I know all the best stores and I can drive us there and we're going to be such great friends –"

"I don't think that's such a great idea, Alice," Edward said nervously. "Bella was just telling me how Kate was _good friends_ with some of the guys down in La Push…" he trailed off. That was odd. Was there a problem with La Push?

"What's wrong with me being friends with them?" I asked, a little offended.

"Nothing, it's just that they aren't really friends of _ours_," Edward said. Why wouldn't they like these people? They seemed nice enough. I bet they were prejudiced against all of us pale folk. Power to the pale people! Edward smiled a bit for no reason. What a weirdo.

"Why not?" I pressed. He grimaced, looking a little uncomfortable. Alice piped up when it looked like he didn't plan on answering.

"Well…we don't really enjoy them either," she said. I frowned. That wasn't very nice. "I know they don't like our father…"

"What? Why? Who's your father?"

"Carlisle Cullen," they said at the same time. I paled.

"_Doctor_ Carlisle Cullen!? As in Hot Doc!?" Alice laughed and Edward grimaced, but eventually nodded. Then I realized something. I remembered why the wolves all hated Doctor Cullen, why I was supposed to be afraid of him and hate him too.

"_Why isn't she in the hospital?!" I said loudly. Paul chuckled darkly._

"_That would only make her sicker." Why was everyone against the hospital?!_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_We run a temperature of one-oh-eight point nine. We should be dead." Oh. That made sense. "Plus, the head doctor is a vamp." I blanched. Why would they hire a vampire? Wouldn't he just…eat all his patients? "You met him actually. Remember __Doctor __Cullen?" He said "doctor" like it was a dirty word. Oh. My. God! Hot doctor was a vampire! He could have killed me! At least now I understood why Paul hated him so much._

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. He was a vampire. They were his children. He had the same pale skin and gold eyes. His hands were just as cold.

That meant Alice and Edward were vampires too. It was sort of freaky, but if I could deal with the existence of werewolves, I could deal with vampires. I hoped they didn't eat me. Well, I supposed Carlisle had helped clean up my blood and didn't, so his kids could probably last. I wondered randomly if I should check. I mean, I couldn't exactly go around assuming everyone was a vampire... I decided to ask.

"Um, not to sound crazy or anything, but... are you guys v–" Alice slapped a cold hand on my mouth, knowing what I was about to say. She nodded grimly and a little squeak of fear escaped me. I didn't mind the idea of vampires, in theory. But the whole touching thing I could live without for a while. Edward stared at Alice and she released me. I stepped away a little and Alice pouted.

"We're not going to do anything," she grumbled sourly. I still didn't trust it.

"You can trust us," Edward added. I shook my head. No way was I getting close to them when Paul and the rest had told me how dangerous they could be. "We're not dangerous to you," he said. What a lie. He obviously was if he ate people to stay alive. He frowned. "We don't eat people..." Oh no, I thought I only said that in my head! I looked down, embarrassed now.

"I didn't know I said that out loud," I said, blushing a little.

"You didn't," Alice said smugly. Edward shot her a look and she didn't explain further.

"O-Okay. Well, I'm just going to go now," I stuttered nervously. Alice frowned.

"I thought we were going shopping?" She asked me, looking heartbreakingly disappointed. I shook my head quickly, heading for the door.

"Maybe another time," I said noncommittally. Or not, I mentally added. She sighed.

"Want a drive home?"

"I walked. I can make it back the same way." Bella was currently taking off her fluorescent orange vest. I supposed she was off work. When I said I was walking, her head snapped up.

"You can't walk all the way there! It's a long way," she said, concern lacing her voice. She walked back over to the Cullens and leaned into Edward's side. Why was she so comfortable around these people...err, vampires? I didn't mind that they existed and everything, but I was _not_ going anywhere near them. She continued, oblivious to my inner musings. "You should get a ride with us." I shook my head again. No. Freaking. Way.

"I'm fine, really. I made it here on my own. I'll be okay." I wished they'd stop asking. It wasn't like I was going to say yes anytime soon and frankly I just wanted to get out of there. They exchanged a glance and I took that opportunity to make my escape. I called out a quick goodbye and flew out the doors. I walked swiftly back the way I came. I was moving a lot faster than I had before; hopefully I'd get home soon. Shortly after, a silver Volvo stopped beside me. I kept walking, even when I heard the whir of an automatic window rolling down.

"Kate! You shouldn't be walking alone, it's not safe!" Edward called. I ignored it and picked up the pace a bit. "Kate!" he called again. Suddenly he was at my side, grabbing my elbow. I tugged it away and he gripped the back of my sweater. His fingers roughly scraped the stitches and I yelped in pain. He let go immediately. "What's wrong?" He asked. Alice was there now too. Bella was still making her way over, worry causing a crease between her eyebrows to form.

"It's nothing," I gasped, trying to get a hold of myself. They were all firing questions at me rapid-fire, but I ignored it all. Well, at least until Alice gently pulled at the collar of my sweatshirt, tugging it over my shoulder. Everyone stopped talking; they must have seen the gashes running down my back. I self-consciously pulled the sleeve back up and walked forward again without looking back.

"What happened?" Alice asked quietly, easily keeping pace with me.

"I told you, it's nothing," I snapped. She looked sad. After a long pause, she asked, "Was it one of the wolves?" I stopped walking abruptly and stared at her.

"H-How do you know about that?" I asked shakily. She laughed happily.

"You really think that they know about us, but we don't know about them?" I shook my head in disbelief and walked away. She kept up again. "So who was it?"

"Leah," I mumbled. She hardly seemed affected.

"Huh. I figured as much. I thought it would be either her or Paul but –"

"Why would it be Paul?" I asked sharply.

"He seems to have a bad temper," she answered, still bubbly. She stared at me for a while and then suddenly grinned. "You like him, don't you? Did you tell him? Does he like you?"

"I don't like him, he's irritating. And yeah, he knows he bothers me. And yes, he likes me. I'm his imp– friend. His friend." I answered quickly. It was pretty clear she noticed my slip.

"Did he imprint on you?" I nodded in defeat and she squealed loudly. "Oh my god! That's so cute! Do you love him yet?" I groaned and shook my head.

"Why does everyone think I love him!?" She laughed.

"Isn't that what always happens with an imprint?" I scowled at her and she giggled again.

"It's not going to happen to me," I told her confidently. I wouldn't let it happen.

"You keep telling yourself that," she said with a wink. I frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you clearly have feelings for him. You can't deny it forever; as far as I know, imprints aren't meant to be torture. They're supposed to make you happy and show you the person you're meant to love."

"I don't care. I don't want Paul." She grinned again.

"You will. It's only a matter of time," she said cockily. I ignored her comment and walked forward until I realized she wasn't with me. She was standing a few meters behind, her nose wrinkled in distaste.

"What's wrong?" I asked, confused.

"We're at the territory line and I can smell the dogs from here. I can't come in La Push, they don't trust us," she replied sadly. I remembered who I was talking to with surprise. I had just had a lengthy discussion with a vampire, unafraid throughout. I nodded at her.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," I said hesitantly. She smiled radiantly back.

"You too." I smiled back and turned to keep walking. "Oh, and Kate?" I spun to face her. "I'm no expert, but I have to say. You can keep trying to deny you have feelings for Paul, but it will only make things harder for you in the long run. I can see how you light up when someone says his name, and I hear how defensive you get when he's insulted. You're falling hard and you don't even know it." I was stunned into silence. She laughed at my likely dumbstruck expression and waved. I waved back and started walking again. I didn't know what to make of that whole conversation. I had heard it all before, but this was different. Alice was an _enemy_ of Paul's, yet she still thought I should be with him. I didn't know what to think, what to do. Did I really like Paul? Was I...falling for him? I had no idea and it was frustrating being so clueless about my own life. I looked around and realized I wasn't too far from home now. I sort of wished I had more time to figure this out, but I really was running out of time. How long was Paul going to stick around if I kept rejecting him? Would he leave? And what if I realized I really did feel something for him, but it was too late? I had too many questions and not enough time to answer them at all. Inside, I knew what I was doing.

I was procrastinating.

I was refusing to face this head on, like I always had. But I was sick of backing down; sick of backing away. I made a pact with myself: I was going to make my choice by tomorrow and do everything I could to follow through. If I decided to push him away, I'd tell him to leave me alone and start to shut him out of my life. If I decided to try to be with him, there would be no more waiting. Once I knew what I wanted, I'd go for it. But all of these plans were put on hold when I saw Jacob standing outside his little house, hands clenched and expression murderously angry. Oh crap.

"Where were you?" He asked. His voice was low and controlled, but somehow that made it more frightening.

"I went shopping in Forks," I answered timidly. He was starting to shake and his nose was wrinkled, much like Alice's was earlier.

"Who did you meet? Why do you smell like _bloodsucker_?" He asked with disgust.

"I met Edward and Alice Cullen," I told him, feigning innocence. I was dead if he knew that I realized the danger.

"Do you know what they are?"

"Um, Edward is Bella's boyfriend I think. Alice is his sister," I said with a smile, keeping up the charade. He was shaking harder.

"Don't play dumb, Kate!" He roared. I stepped back. "You knew! You knew what they were but you did nothing about it! Do you know what could have happened? Don't you understand what this would have done to all of us? To Paul?"

"I-I don't know w-what you mean," I stuttered, faltering under his intense glare.

"You're a rotten liar, Kate! How could you do this? They could've killed you!" He shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

"Well at least they haven't cut me up and tore me to shreds yet!" I shouted back. It was harsh, but true. There was no sense in him trying to use scare tactics against me when I knew the truth. The Cullens were just as dangerous as the wolves. They hadn't hurt me though, and I had scars and casts to prove the opposite of the guys. Regardless of whether or not they meant it, it was all true. I was feeling pretty good about the shocked expression on Jake's face and had to keep going. Because I'm just that nice. "At least I was safe with them! What kind of protectors are you when all I'm getting out of it is harm!?" I opened my mouth to continue but cut off when I heard a strangled sound behind me. I whirled around to see Paul, staring at me with a horrified look on his face.

"It's true," he whispered. "It's all true. And I'm so sorry..." And with that he turned and ran. I groaned in frustration and turned to face Jake again. I felt terrible. I was only using those examples to get Jake off my back, I hadn't meant to do damage in the process.

_Man _did today suck.

I looked back up at Jake. "Go home," he told me. I complied without a word, but started to feel tears silently streaming down my face. I glanced at my watch. It was five now, Aunt Julie was home. I didn't feel like facing her. I walked inside, feeling the sobs start wracking through my body. As soon as I opened the door, she came over to me. After one look at my face, her smile dropped. I ran to my room, shutting the door behind me and dropping to sit on the floor. I cried harder as I thought of Paul's expression. It was all my fault; I was a horrible person. I choked off a new sob when I heard a muffled thump in my room. I looked up, blinking a few times to clear my bleary eyes. Paul was sitting on my bed looking downright depressed. I heaved myself off the floor and went up to him, not caring how horrible my red, puffy eyes must have looked. I threw myself into his arms and cried harder, pressing myself against his chest. His arms wrapped around me tentatively. I wasn't sure if he was trying not to pull my stitches or trying not to set me off, but I didn't care. I buried my face in his neck, mumbling, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over. When I was out of tears and had stopped sniffling I took a deep breath. I tried to calm down but it clearly wasn't working so I gave up. I looked up at Paul's face and locked eyes with him.

And in that moment, my decision was made.

**A/N: There's chapter seven! I'm not really a fan of this chapter since it kind of marks a bit of a change. It was necessary, though. She needed to really think about what was happening to her, so sorry it wasn't as fun and fluffy as usual :P Remember, 9 reviews for an update! (We need to hit 45)**

**Love,**

**Sarah Yoko!**


	8. Bite Marks and Antics

**A/N: I'm so sorry guys! I've been seeing the reviews stacking up but I couldn't do anything :( Fanfiction wasn't letting me sign in! I'm finally in now, so here's the new chappie! I've got 60 reviews right now, let's hit 70 before I update again! :D**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize.**

Chapter 8: Bite Marks and Antics

_And in that moment, my decision was made._

I didn't want to stay away anymore. I didn't know why, but that fact in particular stood out amongst my scattered, confused thoughts. I held our gaze, staring deep into his eyes with an intensity I'd only seen from him before. He was staring at me worriedly. Oh. I guess he thought I was about to flip out on him or lecture him on boundaries.

I definitely wasn't.

Through my tear filled eyes, I gave him a tiny yet enthusiastic smile and his face lit up in response. I grinned back. We just sat there, staring at each other. There was nothing to be said, anyways. I knew that he was no longer hurt or upset, and he knew that I didn't want to move away. I felt electricity fizzle in the air between us and a knot form in my stomach. I realized, to my surprise, that I seemed to be somehow allowing myself to look at him. _Really _look at him. I noticed just how attractive Paul really was. He had dark brown eyes with lighter flecks throughout that were currently sparkling as he gazed at me. He had angular yet soft features; everything was well defined, from his nose to his cheekbones, but it had a kindness about it. His hair fell messily across his forehead and flawless skin.

I had to admit, he was…_hot_.

The knot in my stomach grew tighter and butterflies were attacking me from inside my ribcage. My heart thudded frantically and my breathing hitched. Oh god, Alice was right. I was starting to feel something. I didn't think it was love, not yet. After all, I wasn't some freaky werewolf who falls for someone in a snap. But there was something there, some sort of connection that I hadn't felt before now. Well, I suppose I mean I hadn't allowed myself to feel it. Was it there all along, or was it actually something new? I finally realized that I'd been staring at his face and analyzing what it made me feel for far too long. That's awkward. He didn't seem too bothered by my new fascination with him. He looked downright giddy. His eyes were curious, but the rest of his face was lit up and practically glowing with excitement. His happy grin started to fade into a cocky smirk and my gaze drifted down to his lips. When I become conscious of this, I shot my eyes back up to his, hoping he didn't notice. He did. His expression was hooded and dark, not the playful smug smirk I was expecting.

"Kate…" He breathed. My breathing started to speed up and I was shocked again. I guessed I'd have to get used to this type of reaction to him now that I was so aware of him.

"Yes?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I was actually supposed to respond at all from the way he said my name. But really, I'd rather make things awkward than have him believe I was crazy or deaf or something.

"What changed?" He asked back, regarding me cautiously. I knew he was referring to my sudden change in attitude, but I was too much of a coward to say anything back. I decided to play dumb.

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head to the side, feigning ignorance. He chuckled and shook his head, amused.

"You're the worst liar ever, you know that?" I bit my lip and shook my head. I really thought I was a good liar, but apparently not. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." I sighed and ran a hand down my face, dropping it back into my lap. I debated 'fessing up right there, but decided against it.

"I have no idea whatsoever." I kept up the façade, hoping he'd just drop it. I didn't really feel like confessing any sort of feelings towards him yet. I mean really! I'd just figured it out for myself, didn't I deserve a while to get used to the idea? His eyes took on a determined edge and he took my hands from where they were in front of me. He weaved all of his fingers through mine and held them tightly together. His tanned, calloused hands dwarfed my pale and skinny ones. The contrast was ridiculous. I giggled a tiny bit at the absurd sight. I looked up to meet his eyes but he was looking at me quizzically. Probably wondering why I was laughing.

"What's funny?" He asked, just as I thought that. Score one for Kate. I giggled quietly again.

"Your hands are huge and mine are really tiny." He chuckled at my revelation.

"You wouldn't expect that?"

"Why would I?"

"Well, _I_ am huge, and _you_ are tiny. Our hands would probably be the same," he told me. I laughed a little. It was true. He himself dwarfed me, it wasn't just our hands. "And by the way, _this_ is what I'm talking about." He lifted our intertwined hands as proof. I was still entirely lost.

"Huh?" was my genius response.

"_This_!" He said again, wiggling our hands a bit. "I mean our hands. You just let me hold both your hands and didn't do a thing to pull away." Oh, I guess that was true. Wow, way to be subtle, Kate.

"Yeah, so?" I answered vaguely. There was absolutely no chance I was explaining my revelation.

"So, it's new. And I like it," he told me. I resisted the urge to girlishly giggle. "You're not going to make me let go now are you? That wouldn't really be fair, at least let me have a chance to enjoy it. I mean, I've only gotten like ten seconds of this so far! Give me at least ten _minutes._ Or five. Or even one if you keep eye contact. I'm pretty flexible –"

"Paul!" I cut off his unnecessary ranting. "I never said I was going to make you let go…" I looked down quickly, but not before I saw his wide grin. I smiled a little sheepishly as I looked back up. He just stared at me, happiness written over every action and every expression. His gaze finally left my eyes, only to flicker down. To _my_ lips this time. Oh god, oh god, oh god… Before I could get too far ahead of myself, he spoke again.

"So you don't hate me anymore?" I frowned and opened my mouth to protest the term, but he held up a hand to stop me. "Fine, you never hated me. Do you not…dislike me anymore?" I shrugged.

"I guess."

"Why not?" Jeez, stop asking questions! When I didn't respond, he panicked. "Oh no! This isn't because you feel guilty is it? I mean, yeah, it sucked to hear you say you feel like I'm doing anything but protecting you, but I'm not mad! It's okay, I promise! I don't want your pity, it's fine!" He was _so_ oblivious. I wasn't guilty, I just had a bit of an awakening! How could he not see how comfortable I was with him now? And then, he pulled both his hands from mine and scooted away. I was in shock; that _had_ to be a first.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused. I couldn't understand why he would pull away. Wasn't that my job?

"I don't want you to start being nice to me because you feel bad. You shouldn't feel bad, so you shouldn't have to do anything you don't want to." His expression was pained by the end of his statement. I frowned again. "Knew it," he said under his breath. He stood up off my bed and headed to the window.

"Paul, wait!" I said, still sort of confused by his actions. Was he really going to leave?

"Don't worry about it, Kate. I'm fine." He opened my window and swung one leg over the sill.

"What are you doing?! I'm not doing this because I feel bad, I promise!" He eyed my sceptically. "Promise," I said a bit quieter. His eyes softened and he seemed to believe me for a second. He shook his head, though, and acted like I'd never spoken. "Paul! I don't feel guilty. I…I wanted to do this…" He froze for a second.

"You did?" He asked incredulously. I looked up meekly, but he took my expression the wrong way and sighed. "That's what I thought. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Kate." He was just starting to duck his head under the window frame when I got mad.

When I finally realize that I want to be with him, all he does is push me away. I realized that I'd been doing the same to him, but this was different somehow. I knew he had feelings for me and I told him I didn't feel the same way when he let me know. And now, once tell him that I actually do feel something, he doubts it. So frustrating. I pushed myself off the bed and marched over to him. He was sitting on the ledge, so he was only a bit higher than eye level. He stopped moving entirely and locked his eyes on mine. I took a deep breath and came even closer.

"Goddammit, Paul," I muttered. I grabbed his face and pushed up onto my tip toes, pressing my lips to his. He was unresponsive at first, probably entirely shocked. I kept going though and he finally started to move. His hands weaved into my hair and he tried to pry my lips open with his own. I decided to stop before I went too far. After all, this was really only meant to prove that I didn't just try to make him feel better by acting nicer. I actually cared. After a while, I realized that I was no longer trying to prove a point. I was enjoying it; I liked being this close to Paul, I liked making him this happy. But still, this was too soon for me. I tried to push him away just as his arm snaked around my hips, bowing my now-much-less-painful back into him. I shoved harder. Finally he got the point and pulled back a tiny bit before leaning in again. I laughed lightly and slid my hand into the narrow space between our mouths, effectively cutting off his access. He pulled back all the way this time, pouting just a little bit. I laughed again and pulled my hand away so he could see my expression. His pout had dropped off and his mouth was gaping open.

"Catching flies?" I asked smugly. He snapped it shut and smiled a bit. I smiled back.

"Wow," he breathed. _Damn_ I'm good… "I need to make you mad more often." I smirked a little but smacked his chest anyways. He remained unaffected and pulled me close.

"You probably shouldn't. I don't think that's going to work out so well again." I tried to say it seriously, but my excitement made it sound playful. Without warning, he stood up off the window frame and spun us until he was sitting on the bed, me standing between his legs and his arms still around me. His face neared mine again, a lazy smile on his lips. "Paul," I warned. "Don't get carried away." He grinned at me and pulled my face closer anyways. One of his hands shifted and ran down to my leg, where he fingered the stupid hole in my jeans. I'd forgotten I had them on.

"I blame the pants," he whispered cockily and brought his lips to mine. He kissed me feverishly, much less sweetly than the time before. I kissed him back anyways. His tongue swiped across my bottom lip, but I kept mine firmly closed. He did it again and again, and I rejected him every time. I didn't want to move too fast just yet. He incoherently whined against my lips, the vibrations making me giggle. He took advantage of it and shoved his tongue in my mouth. What a player… I felt him smile in victory, which clearly wasn't going to go over well with me. I bit his tongue. He yelped and pulled away, staring at me in shock. I grinned.

"I told you not to get carried away," I said. His eyes narrowed and I held my hands up in defence. "Hey, it's not my fault you didn't listen _and_ you cheated."

"That was a little unnecessary, don't you think?" He sounded hurt and I laughed a little in response.

"You deserved it."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"No way! You're just violent," he said matter-of-factly. And, being the awesomely mature person I was, I stuck my tongue out at him. He leaned forward and kissed it. What a weirdo.

"I'm not weird," he said. Oops, I guess I said that out loud. Oh well. It was true.

"Who kisses someone's tongue?"

"Me!" He sounded so happy I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's weird!"

"Uh, no. It's called French kissing," he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes and extricated myself from his arms. I walked over to my drawers and started searching for some pj's to change into, leaving him sitting there. I wasn't concerned about being rude. I just needed to get out of these stupid jeans.

"Like you'd know," I called back to him sarcastically.

"I might," he said, suddenly right behind me. I jumped and lost my footing. He grabbed me just before I fell, but not soon enough. I had dropped my clothes on the ground and Paul was studying them intently. I scrambled to pick them all up. I straightened back up to see his amused gaze.

"What," I asked suspiciously. There was nothing wrong with my pj's.

"I don't get how girls can wear those things," he said, motioning to my hot pink, frilly bra that was no longer hidden under my real clothes. I went to tuck it under, but Paul snagged it first. He held it over my head off his index fingers and studied it. Oh god, kill me now. "Not that I object or anything." I dropped my face into his chest and groaned. He chuckled.

"Can I have my bra back now?" I pleaded desperately.

"Nope, not a chance."

"Why not!? I need it!"

"Just don't wear one," he said, leering. I rolled my eyes.

"If you won't give me that one, I'll just get another." He looked thoughtful, but finally handed it back.

"I like it, but I'd still prefer you don't bother," he said seriously.

"Why would it matter to you anyways," I asked jokingly.

"Easier access without it," he said simply. My mouth dropped open. He was ridiculous! "Catching flies?" He teased, quoting me from earlier.

"You're insane. And still a creeper." He pouted but I remained unmoved.

"Go change," he told me, pushing me lightly towards the hallway. "Unless you want me to help…"

"Ugh. Go home, Paul." He just grinned and I left the room, shutting the door in his face. I hurried to the bathroom and quickly shut the door. I changed and brushed my teeth. Looking at my reflection, I noticed that my lips were swollen, my cheeks flushed, and a light in my eyes that wasn't there before. It was still so weird, not avoiding Paul like the plague. He was, even now, awkward and creepy at times, but now I saw it as sort of endearing and cute. Funny what love does to you.

Wait, what?

I'm not in love! It doesn't happen that fast. I had decided this already. It just…doesn't! I definitely had feelings for him and I liked being around him. I got butterflies when I pictured his face in my mind, smiled when I remembered his laugh. I knew I had it bad, but was it love? As strange as it sounded, I needed to talk to Alice. She'd know what to do. Besides, I could handle it! If I could kiss a werewolf, I could chat up a vampire. I decided to call her tomorrow and make plans. I'd probably just never tell Paul where I was. Yeah, that would work. I'd call her after school.

Ah, school. That was going to be awkward. I wasn't sure what was going on with Paul, relationship-wise. I didn't want to explain that to Kim and the guys, but it would surely come up. Paul always hung off me, but I think they'd notice a difference when he tried to kiss me. Even more so when I let him. And then stuck my tongue down his throat.

Oh lord.

I could always just tell him not to, but I wasn't sure I wanted that… Before I could mull over it all too much more, I escaped the bathroom and padded back into my room. I shut the door quietly behind me. I knew Aunt Julie wouldn't come and bother me tonight; for all she knew I was still hysterically sobbing. But I locked it anyways. I looked around only to find an empty room, no Paul. Huh. I guess he actually did go home. I shrugged to myself and climbed into bed. I rolled back over when I realized I'd yet to set my alarm clock, and then suddenly a hot weight settled behind me. Paul. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and pulled my back into his chest gently, careful not to pull the stitches.

"Can you let go for a second?" I asked with a yawn.

"No," he said back sleepily.

"Paullllll," I whined.

"Kaattteeee," he whined back.

"Fine, just set my alarm." There was a pause.

"Um…how?"

"Press the huge red button that says alarm."

"But then I'd have to turn around."

"Duh."

"Then you would too!"

"No I wouldn't."

"Well, I'm not letting you go, so yeah, you would."

"Just let go!"

"No!" He just tightened his grip on me.

"Please," I whispered, reaching behind me and running my fingers through his hair. He sighed contentedly and loosened up his arms involuntarily. I lurched out of his grasp, reaching over his massive form and smacking the right button on my alarm clock. I snuggled back into him victoriously.

"You made me let go," he stated. I could almost hear the pout in his voice. I ignored it and tried to sleep. This turned out to be difficult with Paul there. His one hand slid up my side and to my shoulder, tugging the spaghetti strap of my tank top off with the strap of my bra too. He kissed the exposed skin and I shuddered.

"Paul!" I yell-whispered. "Quit that!"

"No," he said back. He pulled both straps farther down my upper arm, trailing across the skin with searing hot kisses, until I slapped his hand away. "What was that for?!"

"Stop trying to take my bra off!" I replied indignantly. He mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "Wouldn't need to if you never wore one," but I chose to ignore it. Finally, after a few more harmless touches and a bit more of Paul's overzealous antics, I fell asleep in his warm, comforting arms.

I didn't know how this was all going to work out. But right here, right now, in Paul's arms, I'd never felt safer. Or happier.

**A/N: There you go! FINALLY FF lets me in. I feel terrible everyone! Sorry again, hopefully I'll get to post again soon. Any suggestions on what to do about that? Or how to let you guys know that I'm still writing? Review! :)**

**Love,**

**Sarah Yoko!**


	9. Good Intentions and Proclamations

**A/N: Hola, amigos! Here's the next chapter! Should be fun :) Thanks for all the reviews coming in so fast last time, it makes me feel all squishy knowing people read what I write! And to anyone who asked, the point of last chapter was to make Paul seem like a horndog, not a date rapist :P She's his imprint, after all. He would never hurt her intentionally. Right? Right. So let's up the ante, 15 (shockgasphorror) reviews before an update. Let's hit 88 total, kay? Without further ado, chapter nine!!!  
**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize.**

Chapter 9: Good Intentions and Proclamations

I was woken up by warm fingers running up and down my back. I gave an involuntary shiver. I heard a deep, throaty laugh and stiffened. What was _that?_ I took account of where I was. I was lying on a hard, warm pillow…oh. Paul's chest. I mentally squealed and happy danced before looking up to face what I knew would be way-too-perfect-for-morningness. A.k.a. Paul's face. I loved his face…

Focus, Kate, focus.

I tilted my head up to look at him, scooting up the bed so I wouldn't have to crane my neck so much. He was grinning hugely and still trailing his hands gently up and down my nicely healing back. It wasn't as sensitive anymore, but obviously still not perfect. I couldn't help but feel a bit bitter about the scars that I would have for the rest of my life. I wondered what I'd tell people… _Oh, my scars? Yeah, no big deal, my boyfriend's werewolf friend got jealous that I was randomly imprinted on so she turned into a her stupid wolf-self and attacked me. Happens all the time._ I snorted out loud and Paul looked at me curiously. I just shook my head, not caring to fill him in. I didn't feel like dealing with angry self-hating Paul just yet. I was shaken out of my thoughts when my alarm went off behind my head.

"HOLY MOTHER OF SHIT!" I yelled in surprise, jumping about a zillion feet and clutching onto Paul's (gulp) bare chest. He just laughed at my messed up cussing and smacked the snooze button behind me. I was breathing hard from the shock and he laughed harder. "Why didn't you just turn it off when you woke up?" I asked quietly, not sure where Aunt Julie was. I mean, she was supportive of me and Paul, but I was pretty sure no parental figure is cool with seeing their kid in bed with a guy.

"I forgot. You're cute when you sleep," he said with a sweet smile. If he was trying to distract me, it worked. I entirely forgot to be mad at him and grinned back.

"You were watching me sleep?"

"Well…No, I mean, you were…I was…yeah pretty much." He stuttered, running a hand through his hair and regarding me nervously. I just laughed lightly and shook my head. He smiled again and put his hand around the back of my neck, pulling my face to his. Like last night, I slid my hand between our lips, covering my mouth. He groaned. "Why do you _do_ this to me?"

"Do what?" It came out slightly muffled because of my hand.

"The whole…hand thing!" He motioned vaguely to my covered lips. "It's really not fair. I can't do much with a hand." I laughed at his frustration and grinned again, even though he couldn't see it. I rolled off the bed and walked over to the dresser, needing to get ready for school before I got carried away.

"It's not just to annoy you, I promise," I said as I walked, shooting a sly glance over my shoulder. "You just get too into it, and we both really need to get to school." He groaned.

"I don't care about school. Let's just hang out here today!" He suggested enthusiastically.

"No way," I laughed. "I'm going, but you're welcome to make yourself at home." He beamed.

"Does that mean I can like…go through your drawers? And read your diary? And eat your food?" I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous ideas.

"You've already seen my bra, for one. I don't have a diary. And you eat my food anyways, nothing I could say would change that," I told him.

"Why do you want to go so bad!?" He whined, dropping his face in his hands.

"Because the rest of the world deserves to see your cute face," I teased. He chuckled a bit. What I didn't tell him was that I was fully intending to escape him to find Alice after school. That plan wouldn't work so well with his lips permanently latched onto mine. I grabbed my clothes and walked over to him, running a hand through his hair. He looked up at me and I tucked my clothes under my arm, leaning close to his ear. "I swear to god, if you touch my drawers or anything that I wouldn't let you if I was here, you'll never be able to have children. I'll see to it," I whispered in a sickly sweet voice. I marched out to the bathroom, leaving him sitting on the bed with a shocked yet amused expression. I locked the door behind me, just in case. He was such a pig, I didn't really trust him. I wasn't sure if that comment was a joke or not…

I showered quickly and brushed my teeth, doing my hair and makeup and getting dressed faster than I'd ever thought possible. I booked it back to my room and went to attack Paul. I tackled him onto the bed, laughing at myself and my overexcitement. And then I realized he'd gotten dressed. It kind of depressed me to see his amazing, drool-worthy body covered.

"How'd you get dressed so fast?" I asked, pouting. "I was pretty proud of myself for getting done in the time it took me, and you completely owned me!" He laughed.

"I'm just a little bit faster than you, Kate," he said. "I was home, changed, and back before you got out of the shower." I gaped.

"That's insane."

"I'm just cool like that," he said with a smile, mussing my hair. I giggled and hoisted myself off him. He caught my thigh and pouted.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He looked heartbroken, but I couldn't imagine why.

"You're not wearing those holey jeans," he told me. I laughed.

"Obviously not! You had a field day with those, never happening again." He frowned and crossed his arms, looking like a stubborn child.

"Not fair, Kate. Can you at least wear them around me still?"

"Do you promise to not attack me?"

"No, not really."

"Then no."

"Fiiiiiine, I'll leave you alone. But you have to wear them often."

"No."

"Why are you so stubborn!?" I giggled and gave him a peck on the lip that was jutting out. He smiled under the kiss and leaned forward to continue it when I pulled back.

"Don't make me do the hand thing Paul," I warned jokingly. "And I'm only stubborn because I can be." I smiled at him.

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking entirely confused.

"I mean," I said with a laugh. "You can never say no to me, so I can be as stubborn as I want. I'll get my way anyways."

"I'm not that whipped!" He looked offended.

"You're not whipped. You're just suffering from what I like to call 'imprinting'." I grinned when he frowned.

"I can say no to you," he stated. But it sounded like he was more concerned with convincing himself rather than me.

"Sure," I said, rolling my eyes. He just kept frowning. "Paul, can I have a piggyback ride downstairs?"

"Yeah, okay," he said with a grin.

"HA!"

"What?"

"You just said yes. You so can't say no."

"Yes I can!" He slung me onto his back and tossed me in the air a bit, catching me as I squealed.

"Sure, whatever. Hey Paul, can you grab my bag for me? I can't reach from up here." I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist.

"Okay, no problem." I laughed as he bent down to get it. "What now?"

"You still can't say no."

"Damn, you're right. Oh well, if I can keep you I don't mind being whipped."

"Awww…" I teased and he pinched my leg. I could see the side of his face lift in a smile. He carried me down the stairs and into the kitchen, wehre I realized we'd forgotten something.

Aunt Julie.

He carried me in, still blissfully unaware of our impending doom. She was standing there, at the stove, apparently making breakfast. Paul was still out of it until I made a weird, strangled "guaahhh" kind of sound and pointed at her. He froze and his eyes widened.

"Morning, Kate, morning Paul," Aunt Julie said without turning.

"Erm…Hi, Julie…" I said awkwardly. Oh god oh god oh god…

"Yeah, um, morning…" Paul said, just as uncomfortable as me.

"I took the liberty of cooking breakfast for you two. I know how much you can eat Paul." I gaped. Why wasn't she freaking?! "And Kate, try to remember that this house is tiny and the walls are paper thin." I gulped.

"No, it's not like that! We…we didn't do anything! It was innocent!" Paul chuckled, so I smacked him upside the head. I turned to face Julie who was holding in her own laughter.

"Trust me, I'd know if it wasn't." I groaned. "And I'm happy for you two, but try to keep the hormones to a minimum while I'm near, okay?" We both nodded. "That goes for you, Paul. Don't think I couldn't hear you too last night." He smirked and I cringed.

"Alright! Enough awkwardness, let's go Paul." He had already scarfed down two whole plates of food, so I figured it was enough. His mouth was still full when I dragged him off though.

"Guhbuh Jooieee!" He called, a garbled version of "Goodbye, Julie." I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag, fleeing out the door and hopping in the passenger seat of his SUV and bounced in place, urging him to pick up the pace. I wanted nothing more than to escape.

-------------------------------------------------

The day passed quickly. I was mostly spaced out and daydreaming, aside from the snide comments from the guys. There were a lot of Embry and Quil tag-team insults, but other than that it was fine. Paul was still all over me, but he toned it down a bit after I threatened his manhood again. He knew I was serious; I'd done it twice before, after all. I was pretty happy to be wearing my solid, hole-less capri's like I was. Much less opportunity for him to feel me up. He he.

Right now, I was driving home with Paul who had one hand on the wheel and the other on my thigh. I'd long since stopped trying to deter him. It never worked, so I just let it go. He dropped me off and got out too, walking around the car to meet me.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You've just seemed really…distant today," I shrugged.

"No, everything's fine. I'm sorry about that," I replied. I got up onto my toes and pulled his face down to kiss him. He let me, but eventually picked me up and put me on the hood of the car. We were nearly eye level now. He leaned forward, pushing me back onto the windshield. His hands were planted on either side of my head while he hovered over me. He attacked my neck as I stayed pinned, making no move to pull myself out of his hold. After what must have been ten minutes of pure making out, I pushed his face away, breathing hard. He was too, and I could see how swollen his lips were. Mine probably weren't much better. His face was flushed, but he was beaming. He finally released me and I hopped off the car, grabbing his hand and towing him inside. To my surprise, he stopped at the door. I tugged again, but he didn't budge. I turned to him frowning.

"I've got patrol today," he told me sadly. I sighed, but internally I was happy. All that much easier to escape to Forks.

"Oh, okay. When till when?" He pouted.

"Now till one A.M., then it switches over."

"You're going to be exhausted!" I felt bad for him; it had to be hard staying up so late, night after night.

"Yeah, probably. But someone has to do it." He smiled half-heartedly and leaned down, kissing me on the forehead, cheek, nose, and finally the lips. He lingered there a bit longer before he pulled away, grimacing. "I'll see you later, Kate. I miss you already." I sighed again.

"Bye, Paul. I'll miss you too." He slowly backed away and then got into his car and left. As soon as he was officially down the street and out of sight, I started to run. I followed the same path I had before, only this time sprinting the entire way. I broke through the tree line finally, rushing out onto the sidewalk and slowing to a jog. I finally made it to Newton's, spotting the familiar silver Volvo in the parking lot. Great, she was already here!

I skipped into the store, still a bit paranoid that a random wolf would show up and drag me home. The moment I stepped inside, the pixie attacked me.

"EEEEEEEEEE! I'm so glad you came back! We can go shopping now! Does Paul know? Is he mad?"

"Hi Alice," I said, laughing. "I do need to go shopping. Paul doesn't know, and I'm sure he _will_ be mad once he finds out." I grimaced, but she kept beaming.

"Don't worry, Katie-poo. He can't be mad for too long." She winked.

"Katie-poo?" I questioned. She giggled.

"I thought it sounded cute. So, did you take what I told you to heart?" She asked. I smiled shyly and she squealed again.

"We're kind of…together now. It's not official but it's something." She clapped her hands and jumped a bit.

"That's great! Well, we need to get going now if we're going to have enough time." She told me seriously. I grinned.

"Are Bella and Edward coming?"

"Yes. They don't have to if you don't want, though," she looked at me worriedly.

"No, it's fine. I'd like to get to know some people outside of La Push, to be honest." She beamed.

"Okay!" And just like that, Bella and Edward came over. Nice timing.

"Are we all going then?" Edward asked. Alice nodded, and Bella groaned loudly. I laughed. Poor girl, someone who hates shopping must be in pain around Alice. Edward grinned. Creeper…

We all hopped in the Volvo, Edward in Bella in the front and me and Alice in the back. Only we were excited, bouncing and squealing and just generally freaking out. The other two were grimacing and just exchanging looks of sympathy. Suddenly, Alice pulled out a huge bottle of Febreze and some body spray, spritzing it all over my body.

"Alice! What are you doing!?" I spluttered, trying to shield myself from her. Everyone was laughing hysterically.

"I can't take it anymore! You smell like dog!" I stopped moving entirely. What? I didn't even _have_ a dog! Edward laughed harder.

"The werewolves smell like wet dog to us, and apparently we smell terrible to them too. But either way, you sort of do have a dog, if you count Paul…" he trailed off, chuckling.

"I resent that," I told him and everyone laughed. "And besides, I think everyone smells good."

"Thank you!" Bella said, laughing. "I've been saying that all along!" Right then, we arrived at the mall. Alice hauled me out and dragged me from shop to shop, never letting me pay. She moved to quickly for me to try anyways. She bought me more clothes than I could ever need, including some jeans that were solid material throughout. Thank god. Eventually we all took a break from change rooms and me and Bella grabbed some food. After that, we all went into a sketchy looking shop, curious as to what they even sold. We came across a _huge_ display of candles. We all grabbed a few off the shelf and smelled them, shoving them into each other's faces. Edward sat back and looked mildly amused, his eyes on Bella the entire time. We were all giggling by the time a sales lady came over. Her name tag proclaimed her to be Tonya B.** (New Tonya, everyone. Not Tanya, entirely new character!)** She looked at us, smiling. She was very tall, but not abnormally so. She had lightly tanned skin with big brown eyes. Her hair was cropped short and nearly black. Overall, she was really pretty. The kind of girl I would have been jealous of, had I not known just how committed Paul was to me. We stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say after being caught acting like children, when Tonya reached over our heads and plucked one off the shelf. She held it out to us.

"This one is my favourite, it smells like chocolate chip cookies. It's pretty intense, guys," she told us with a smile. All four of us girls dissolved into giggles. Just then, the door to the shop slammed open.

"KATE!" Paul bellowed from the door. Oh no. I froze, as did everyone else. Tonya just looked confused.

"Hi, Paul," I said quietly. He was now standing in front of me, shaking like crazy. Edward and Alice backed away. Embry and Jacob followed in behind him, looking just as livid.

"What are you doing?! Don't you understand what could've happened? Do you not get how worried I was? What were you thinking?" He yelled, tugging at his hair.

"Paul, calm down," I ordered, my voice shaking.

"Don't tell me to calm down right now." He said, looking like he could phase at any second. I ignored him.

"Not here, Paul. I've got enough scars, calm down. I don't want any more," I said quietly, making sure Tonya couldn't hear. The mention of him hurting me sobered him up. He stopped shaking, but still looked angry.

"Uh, dude?" I heard Jake ask. Everyone looked over. Embry was standing there, looking dazed. His gaze was focused on a very confused and mildly frightened looking Tonya. I knew that look.

Embry had just imprinted. On Tonya.

That brought everyone out of their anger for a second as Embry shyly introduced himself, as did Tonya. He gently tugged her away into a corner of the shop for privacy. I reached out to Paul, who had his face in his hands.

"Paul, we would have never –" Edward started. But Paul cut him off.

"I don't care about your intentions, leech," he spat. "I only care about what you _can_ do. I'm not the mind reader; I don't know what could happen. And Kate's my imprint; I wouldn't live through losing her." I tucked myself into him, when a fact hit me.

"You can read minds?" I asked Edward sheepishly. He nodded, not really paying attention. "That's so _cool_!" Bella and Alice giggled, but no one else looked amused. I ignored his attitude and continued. "Quick! What am I thinking?" Your hair is the colour of a penny, and that's sort of awesome.

He sighed, "You think my hair is the colour of a penny, and you think that it's 'awesome'." he said quickly, rushing through the words.

"It is sort of penny coloured!" Bella said. Edward looked at her and grinned.

"That is so _cool_!" I said again. Paul squeezed his eyes shut.

"Not the point, right now, Kate," he said in a strained voice. "Come on, we're leaving." I sighed, but nodded. There was no sense in pushing him now.

"It was fun, guys. Maybe I'll see you soon," I said hopefully. Paul groaned.

"No, you won't." he muttered.

"Not up to you," I muttered back. Alice stifled a laugh. I said my goodbyes to everyone, Paul flinching when I hugged Alice. He silently took my bags and led me to his car, leaving Embry to find his own way. Jake was still there too, talking to Bella. It was just me and Paul. "Listen, I'm sorry if I upset you," I said timidly.

"Upset me? _Upset me_?! You had me terrified! You could have been killed!" He practically shouted. I flinched away from his cold, hard voice. But then I lost the fear and got a little pissed.

"Grow up Paul!" I shouted at him. I didn't know where I got my strength to yell at him like that, but I kept with it. "I'm not a child; you can't tell me what I can and cannot do! You know as well as I do that they wouldn't hurt me! They're my friends now, like it or not! And if you really need to stay away from them and can't be mature enough to handle it, then stay away from me too!" I yelled. I was mad. They were becoming my friends; he couldn't expect me to stay trapped in La Push forever, could he? I realized that Paul hadn't said a word since my little outburst. I waited for him to speak. Anything was better than the tense silence that had settled between us.

"I – I'm sorry, Kate," he said slowly. "I'm not sorry that I don't like the Cullens. Because I don't like them, not at all. I'm just sorry that you think I'm treating you like a child." I just stared at him. "But I still don't want you near them."

"Too bad," I said stiffly.

"For you. I can make sure you never go near them again, it's not too hard."

"You damn well better not." He laughed abruptly, but there was no real amusement in the sound.

"And what are you going to do?" he taunted. Was he seriously doing this? How old was he, five? And who did he think he was, trying to control me and tell me that he would make sure I stayed away from the Cullens. It was ridiculous.

"I'll leave," I told him simply. I heard his breath catch. I knew it was a low blow, but what else was I supposed to do? Let him do what he wanted and take over my life? I don't think so.

"I just want you safe," he mumbled sadly. I felt bad, but I wasn't going to take it back.

"I know you do," I said gently. "But you can't just take over my life to protect me from everything." We were home now. He pulled me out of the car and dragged me upstairs. Aunt Julie was softly snoring in the other room as he pulled me into my bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. Still silent, he sat me down on the bed and kneeled in front of me. He just stared at my face and looked like he was thinking hard.

"Kate," he breathed. "I don't want to run your life. I just want to make sure you keep it. If…if you…died, it would kill me too. I just don't want to take the chance. I can't live without you." I ran my hands through his hair and rested my palm on his cheek, smiling at him. He took a deep breath. "I won't live without you. I will always protect you, and I'll always be there for you. Even when you try to get rid of me, I'll always come back." I smiled wryly.

"Oh trust me, I know." I replied. He chuckled.

"But all of this isn't because I imprinted. Imprinting just pointed me in your direction; the way I feel now is just because of who you are. You make me whole. Kate, I…I love you." My breathing hitched and my heart beat double time. HE LOVED ME! I grinned hugely and kissed him with everything I had.

"I love you too Paul," I said happily. He laughed victoriously, pinning me on the bed and kissing from my forehead all the way to my collar bone, covering all the exposed skin in his kisses. I giggled until he pulled away, beaming.

"I'm sorry, but I have to keep patrolling. I skipped out to come get you when you weren't home." I pouted and he frowned. I leaned up for another kiss, and then pushed him away.

"Okay. Go patrol, I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled and opened the window, swinging his legs over.

"Love you," he said again. I smiled and blew him a kiss.

"Love you too," I replied. With that, he leaped to the ground. I went to the window to wave, and all I saw was Paul dancing on my lawn. It looked like a touchdown dance, or a happy dance. It was hysterical either way. I laughed and he finally looked up, smiling sheepishly. He ran off into the woods, and I walked back to bed.

As disgustingly gooey and cheesy as it was, I was ecstatic. I knew he loved me already, but to hear him say it and be able to say it back was different somehow. I was in love with Paul, and I'd never been happier.

**A/N: There you have it folks! And no, this isn't the end. Not yet, anyways. Review! We need 88 to continue :)**


	10. Important Notice!

**Nobody panic! Everybody PANIC! Okay so this is 's friend musicrush93 and I have some bad news. Her computer has CRASHED. She can't retrieve her lost files, so yes that means the next 2 or 3 chapters of this story. I know, I'm just as hooked on this story as you are, and waiting for these updates is going to be deadly! She is very sorry, and feels terrible, but we must be patient while she re writes the next couple of chapters so that she can update once her computer is fixed, and if that takes too long, she can use my computer :P SO, with that said, I am terribly sorry to be the bearer of craptastic news , but if you need something to read while waiting for the next amazing chapter of Fighting Paul, stop by my page and check out the first two chapters of my story Public Transit, and also a new oneshot that I will be posting very soon! Good luck ! We heart you!**


	11. Gooey Looks and Phone Calls

**A/N: Thanks for the patience! My computer is finally up and running after a zillion days without it. As you know from my awesome friend's post, my computer got a virus and crashed so I lost this chapter and the next. Retyping takes forever, as well as editing to try and make sure you didn't miss anything. Thanks for being awesome and not threatening to kill me ;) Also, this chappie is dedicated to Tonbot. She knows why, and it involves a felt drawing of fish and a cactus. You're awesome. Here's chapter 10!**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize.**

Chapter 10: Gooey Looks and Phone Calls

I woke up late the next morning. I had less than an hour to get ready and be at school, and I was usually rushing as it was. I ran around my room, grabbing whatever clothes I saw (likely one's I'd just bought with Alice. I was careful to wash them all last night since apparently they "smelt like leech") and booking it to the washroom to shower. In record time, I was ready to go and standing back in my bedroom. And then it hit me.

Paul loved me. I loved Paul. I was in love!

At that moment I decided it was more than appropriate to celebrate. So, following Paul's lead from late last night, I happy danced. As I jumped around and twirled into things and tripped over my feet to the music in my head, I felt someone's eyes on me. I froze. Oh no. I turned slowly to find an amused looking Paul leaning against the wall and eying me, clearly holding in laughter. I dropped my eyes and laughed nervously. The next thing I knew, his arms were around me and I was against the door. Well, that was disorienting. He laughed lowly and tried to meet my gaze. I avoided it. Finally he took my face in his hands and forced me to look at him.

"Are you alright?" He asked me. I couldn't tell if he was concerned or just making fun of me. I scowled for good measure.

"Yeah, not mortally wounded. Just painfully embarrassed," I mumbled.

"No need to be embarrassed, love," he said gently. My heart sped up at the pet name. "I liked it, I promise." I scoffed and he laughed at me, pulling me into a tight hug and putting kisses all through my hair. I giggled and I felt him smile against my skin. I was trying to regulate my now frantic breathing, looking over his shoulder. Anywhere but his eyes. I caught the time on my alarm clock and gasped.

"Oh crap! We're gonna be late!" I wiggled out of his arms but kept one hand, towing him down the stairs and towards the door, snagging my bag along the way. "Paul! Hurry up!" He was lazily walking behind me, ignoring my urgency.

"But you're cute when you're flustered," he whined. I laughed.

"You think I'm cute all the time," I teased. He grinned and ran his hands through my hair.

"No I don't," he muttered, pulling my face to his and knotting his hands into my scalp. "I think you're _gorgeous_ all the time. Much more than just cute." I stopped breathing. Jesus, why was he so _perfect_? I swear, he's going to kill me someday. After what seemed like forever, our lips finally met. He leaned into me, pressing my body into every curve of his. I could feel his muscles through his tight shirt and – oh god. School. Right. Focus, Kate! Unwillingly, I pulled away and walked to the passenger seat of his SUV, leaving him there pouting. When he realized I wasn't budging, he climbed into the drivers side. He pulled away from the house and took off down the street.

"Paul!" I yelled. He jumped, startled.

"What's wrong?"

"Dude! You're going like, a zillion miles an hour! We're gonna die!" I shouted, panicked. He just laughed.

"First, did you really just call me dude? And we're going eighty. And we're not gonna die, I just don't want you to be late," he said, looking concerned. He really needed to get his priorities in line. I mean, seriously.

"Yes, I called you dude. And I liked it. So get used to it. Slow down!" I added the last part as he sped up once he hit the main road in La Push. What a psycho. I looked up at his ridiculously handsome face and sighed a little bit. I sort of felt a bit demoralized since I'd given in to him. I felt a slight twinge of loss for my independence, but all my negativity flew out the window when the side of his face I could see pulled up into a smile.

"Stop staring at me," he teased. Determined not to be embarrassed, I responded.

"You're one to talk," I said with a scoff. His smile grew.

"Fair enough." That's all he said. I laughed at it. He didn't even _try_ to deny it! I was yanked from my thoughts as we screeched into the parking lot, all of the heads in the area turning towards us. He chuckled and got out of the car, coming around to meet me on my side. Once he reached me he slung an arm over my shoulders. He snickered smugly as I, in turn, wrapped mine around his waist.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled. He tried to muffle his laughter with his hand but it didn't help. We reached all the guys plus Kim then, him still laughing at me. "I'm serious!" I added, and the whole group laughed a little too. I turned my glare on them. They laughed harder. Why was no one taking me seriously today?! "Fine," I said bitterly. "I'm leaving." I dropped my arm and wiggled out of Paul's. His face immediately fell into a devastated expression of loss and I smirked. It didn't take much to break him.

"Shut up, guys," he growled. Embry and Quil looked at me and I winked. They broke into guffaws and Jared and Jake sort of looked confused. Embry elbowed Jared and motioned to me, my face hidden from Paul. They knew what I was doing. Jake laughed with the rest of them, but Jared looked sympathetic. Ha! Kim had probably done it too. "Katie, baby…" Paul mumbled, grabbing me from behind and tugging me into him.

"Paul, can you tell them to stop being so mean to me?" I asked babyishly. They glared at me but I ignored it. I tilted my head back so I was looking at him, ensuring he got the full force of my pout.

"S-Sure!" He stuttered, hopefully thoroughly stunned. "Guys, leave her alone!" He said the last part protectively and snuggled me into his embrace. Ah, the wonders of being an imprintee. You were always in charge.

Classes went slowly after that. Nothing really happened aside from some snide comments from the werewolves about any PDA and a massively eager set of roaming hands. Paul was cute, but I could do without. I wasn't about to deny him it, though, from the amazing, sexy smile he wore whenever I didn't push him away. Why was I such a pushover!?

Lunch couldn't come quick enough. When the bell rang, finally, I packed my bag and skipped out of the room as fast as possible, Paul on my heels.

"Were you getting a little impatient?" He asked laughingly. I giggled back but otherwise ignored it. I was _starving_! Once we'd gotten to the cafeteria, I loaded up my tray and walked to the usual table. I sat down next to Seth and an empty spot, which Paul immediately took. He stole my hand under the table and played with my fingers. I giggled a bit again when he started making them dance and Seth looked at us in disgust.

"Ugh, get a room," he said.

"We're not even doing anything!" I said back, laughing but still confused. What's wrong with holding hands? Jared and Kim were doing it too!

"It's not what you're _doing_," Embry piped up from across the table.

"It's what you're thinking about doing," Quil added.

"Yeah," Seth said. "You're not even looking all gooey like those two." He motioned vaguely to Kim and Jared, who were staring into each other's eyes. Jake was trying to stick a French fry in Jared's ear, since he was just that cool. He didn't even look over as he spoke.

"You're not looking all lovey-dovey, you look all pent-up-sexual-frustration-y." I laughed at his convoluted phrase as he continued. "So could you both just do us a favour? Suck it up and get it on!" The table exploded. Everyone was laughing hard, clutching their stomachs for support, except for me and Paul. We just sat there, gaping and shocked. Tears streamed down some faces while others were beet red. Mine was frozen. How do you even _respond_ to something like that?!

"Believe me, I'm the one who's making the effort!" Paul defended. Well, apparently _that's_ how you respond. I let out a whoosh of breath and he turned to face me.

"Paul!" I spluttered after several attempts.

"Yes, love?" He asked innocently.

"What was that!?"

"What was what? I'm just telling the truth. I've been trying for a while! It's not my fault you don't ever want to!"

"PAUL!"

"WHAT!?"

"I only even started to have any sort of remote feelings for you like, a couple days ago! It's not my fault you want to bang whatever moves!" I shouted, irritated. It's not like I was frigid… The table exploded into laughter again at my comment, but Paul just looked offended.

"No, Katie! I just want to bang _you_!" I tried to keep up my poker face, but soon dissolved into giggles. It sounded like he was trying to be sweet, but the words just totally messed up the whole feeling. He finally broke a smile and held me close, satisfied that I was no longer mad at him.

"No sex for you," I muttered, just to make sure he knew he wasn't getting any just because of that conversation. He he, I'm so cruel sometimes… He groaned but let it go.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of notes, bells, and faces. I wasn't paying attention at all. I was off in a lovely daydream about me and Paul up at a beach house on our own private island. It was pretty nice. I only even came back to reality when hard, hot, and unyielding lips smashed into mine. I let out a squeak of surprise but they never stopped. I heard Paul laugh a little; it came out muffled, but it still didn't fail to make my heart beat double time. I took notice of my surroundings. Somehow, we'd ended up in his car and were now parked in front of my house. He clicked off my seatbelt and leaned over the console between us, pinning me to my seat. He pried my mouth open with his lips and stuck his tongue in my mouth. I was about to protest, but then I just…didn't. I didn't feel the need to, so I went with it. Much to his satisfaction, I responded and shoved my tongue down his throat, taking dominance. I draped my arms over his shoulders lazily as he kissed me with more fervour, now knowing that I wouldn't push him away. When we finally broke away for air, we were both breathing hard. He kissed me twice more on the lips, once on the forehead, and once on the top of my head before leaning back. He fell heavily against the back of his seat to give us both space. We both tilted our heads towards each other, and giggled at the sight around us. The windows of the car were fogged up. His hair was all over the place, his face flushed. My lips felt swollen and I could feel the blush on my cheeks. He opened his car door and walked around to mine, opening it too. He reached out a hand to me but I didn't move.

"Come on, Kate," he said with a laugh. "I know I'm good, but not _that_ good. Get up." I just whined incoherently back. He sighed, but reached around my waist and yanked me up.

"Paul!" I squealed. He just laughed and towed me up to the front door. We went into the house and collapsed on the couch, after having checked for Julie. She wasn't home yet. "So, I think we should make out in the car more often." I said nonchalantly. He grinned.

"Maybe, but I think we should stay away from the console. It was killing my side the entire time," he told me, faking a wince. I laughed.

"Why didn't you say anything? We could've moved!" I felt a little bad now. I can't believe I didn't even notice that he was in an awkward position. Then again, I was a little occupied…

"Yeah, I guess," he said shyly. "But I didn't want to move away from you."

"Awe," I said cheekily and he poked me in the side, making my jump. "We didn't have to move _away_. We could've just made it more comfortable. Friggin' masochist." I said sourly. He was ruining my make out memory!

"What other positions could we have been in," he said lowly. I shuddered a bit and he smirked.

"Well…" I said innocently. "I could have been…" I trailed off, swinging one leg over his lap and planting my knees around him. I leaned in. "On your lap," I whispered. He gulped audibly. I grabbed his collar and pulled it to the side, making him lay down on the couch. I kept straddling him and leaned forward, pressing my body into his. His hands seized my waist and held tight. "Or, we could have been laying on the backseat…" He growled, a low rumbling in his chest. His arms wrapped all the way around my back and pulled me close. It was too tight, but I probably wouldn't complain until my ribs actually cracked.

"Or you could have been sitting a foot away from each other and innocently watching a movie when I came in." Me and Paul both gasped and flew apart at the sudden voice. Aunt Julie just laughed. "I don't care what you do; just don't violate my daughter on my couch, Paul." He laughed, I blushed.

"If you think of the position, I'm pretty sure _she_ was violating _me._" He replied with a grin. He pulled me close but I just smacked him on the back of the head.

"Oh, shut up. You weren't complaining," I said indignantly.

"Obviously, Kate," Julie piped in. "He's a hormonal teenager, what do you expect?" She scoffed and Paul still looked unfazed.

"Very true, Julie," he replied seriously. I laughed at him. How he wasn't ten shades redder and sweating profusely was a mystery. The phone rang, but I ignored it. Someone else could get it. I leaned into Paul's chest and snuggled up to him, getting comfortable. His arms wrapped all the way around me, overlapping where they met. I felt tiny. It would have been a cute moment, had the phone not _still_ been ringing.

"JULIEEEE!" I yelled over my shoulder. "Get the phone!"

"No! You get the phone, I'm busy!"

"What are you even doing?"

"Eating an orange."

"That's not work!"

"What are you doing?!"

"Seducing Paul!"

"GET THE PHONE!" She said it as an order, so I sighed and got up to do as I was told. I glared at her as I passed but she just smiled sweetly back.

"Hello?" I asked blandly as I picked up the phone. Whoever it was, they were cutting into my Paul time.

"That's not a very excited greeting, Katelyn," my mother said, her shrill voice piercing though the earpiece. I gasped.

"_Mom_?!" Paul looked over at the word, and Julie looked just as surprised.

"Yes, dear. Why the surprise?"

"You haven't called me since I got here, I sort of figured you forgot me." Julie snickered in the background but I shushed her.

"Well, it's hard to forget such a send-off," she said and sniffed. I muffled my own snicker now, remembering my dramatic flipping-off-and-"Have-a-nice-life" act. It was priceless, something I'd always be proud of. Paul looked confused at my wide grin but I waved him off, trying to say that I'd tell him later.

"Ha, right. So what's the occasion?"

"Why, can't I just call my daughter?"

"Um, you can, if you want. But is there anything in particular you need to talk about?"

"Just checking in. I trust Julia is keeping you under control?"

"Yes, mother. I'm a well behaved little girl," I told her sarcastically.

"No need for lip!" She said back. I sighed. This would go faster if I at least acted pleasant.

"Okay, okay. Anything else?"

"Yes. I'm just checking to make sure that there are no…bad influences in your life at the moment? You know your father and I love you very much and respect your privacy, but we will always put your best interests first."

"By bad influences I assume you mean boys?" I snickered a bit at Paul. He was now trying to distract me. He was pointing to himself with an innocent expression, mouthing, "me?" and then waving his hands frantically and shaking his head. I loved that boy. I grinned and winked at him.

"Well, yes I suppose so."

"Then yes, there is one amazing bad influence in my life." Aunt Julie let out a little "awe" at this and Paul grinned.

"Katelyn Marshall! You know you were sent there to avoid exactly this kind of thing, but apparently these troubles follow you!"

"Mom," I said patronizingly. "Boys will be wherever you send me. They're not following me, they're just sort of there." Both members of my audience openly laughed at this but I made a slashing motion over my neck, trying to shut them up.

"Well clearly this isn't working. Maybe we need to send you elsewhere."

"No, mom! You haven't met him! He's not a bad guy. He's nothing like the guys I used to go out with. You'd love him!" She sighed and Paul winked at me.

"Well, I suppose if you feel this…strongly, it's a good thing we'll be meeting him soon." My smile dropped.

"Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"We're coming for a visit of course!"

"Oh. When?"

"Don't sound so excited," she said sarcastically. I sighed. "Regardless, we have nothing really set yet. So could you be a dear and pass the phone to Julia for me? We need to work out some details."

"Sure. Bye, mom." I tossed the phone to Julie, who fumbled to catch it. When she finally righted herself she spoke into the phone stiffly, setting dates and times. I had no interest, so I drifted back to Paul.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he embraced me, probably noticing the pained expression on my face.

"My mom is coming to visit." He looked relieved.

"Oh, that's not so bad. Why aren't you living with her anyways?" I grimaced and he hurriedly backpedalled. "Unless you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Don't worry, I won't bother you."

"No, it's okay. I got kicked out. I tried to sneak out to see my then-boyfriend and I got caught. On top of it all, the guy was pretty sketchy. It didn't bother me, but apparently it bothered my parents. They were trying to cure my 'bad behaviour' by sending me here to Julie."

"Who was your boyfriend?" He asked with a sour expression.

"Out of all that, you only heard the boyfriend part?"

"Whatever. So who was your boyfriend?" He asked again. I sighed. He'd never let it go.

"His name was Jordan, he was a year older." I replied in a bored tone, hoping to put him off the topic. It didn't work.

"Did you love him?"

"What? No! I just sort of…hung out with him a bit. Nothing happened, I didn't really feel anything either." Paul was still frowning. "Don't be jealous, I love you and only you. Promise," I said with a smile. He smiled a bit more, but then tackled me onto the couch. He kissed me hard and possessively, though I couldn't blame him. I sort of expected something like this to come out of a "previous boyfriend talk". Eventually I got my head together enough to remember that Aunt Julie was, in fact, in the house. I pushed him away reluctantly and sat up.

"So…why is your mother coming here such a tragedy?"

"It's not that it's a tragedy…" I trailed off, unsure how to finish. How can I explain how different we are without sounding like the bad guy? I mean, technically, she did have my priorities in line more than I did. And she probably did care. Same goes for my father, but he was the more passive one in their relationship. I loved my parents, but sometimes I wish they didn't care about the small things so much. They would see the flaws in whatever I tried to do, but entirely ignored everything else. They probably liked being perfect. I wished I could rebel a little, or at least have a reason to (after all, what's the use in rebelling if nothing's going to happen? And why bother when you're not even pissed about being punished or something?). I didn't like fitting into a Stepford family mould. She let me get away with things, but sometimes I wished I had a _mom_ mom; to get grounded by, to cry over high school drama with. She just sort of…got disappointed. And any teenager knew that disappointment from your parents is ten times worse than anger. "We're just not on the same page." Understatement of the year.

"Alright. Well, if you want me to meet her I will. If you don't, that's cool too. Do what you need to, whatever makes you happy." He said all this with a smile on his face but concern shining in his eyes.

"I'll introduce you. I need to, better now than later. If you're going to be sticking around she ought to at least know why. But she might not like you," I told him, frowning at the last part.

"Everyone likes me," he teased. I cracked a smile.

"That may be true, but she'll hate any guy I'm with. She blames boyfriends for anything I do wrong," I said. My voice shook a little. I tried not to show it, but I really didn't like being told just how much I did that was wide of the mark. I was immediately in Paul's arms. He stroked my back and rocked me back and forth as the tears finally welled up and spilled over.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. Don't listen to her; you're perfect and smart and funny and beautiful. There's nothing you do wrong, I love you," he cooed in my ear, trying to comfort me. By the time I was done crying on his chest, my eyes were probably red-rimmed and puffy. Lovely. He didn't seem to care though. Paul leaned down and kissed me softly. I pulled back a little to smile at him and noticed the giant wet mark where I had been. I frowned.

"I stained your shirt," I stated. "Sorry 'bout that." He just laughed.

"It's fine," he insisted, laughing. He hugged me tightly.

"Jeez, I'm a wreck," I mumbled. "And then I ruined a perfectly good shirt." He laughed at me again.

"Well, I don't really need the shirt at all. Don't feel bad." I looked at him sceptically and he seemed to take it as a challenge. He let me go for a second and yanked his shirt off, throwing it over my head. He wrapped his arms around me again. I sighed and leaned into his chest.

Shirtless Paul cured all.

**A/N: There we go! It'll be a while until I update since I need to retype it all again. Stupid virus. We should be back on track once I get going again. Let's try and reach 100 reviews, okay? **

**Love,**

**Sarah Yoko!**


	12. Falling and Fights

**A/N: Sorry if this chappie makes you hate me. There's probably loads of mistakes but I just wanted it out there. There's nothing wrong with community college. I think we all know I don't own this story. I'm neglectful. That's all.**

Chapter 11: Falling and Fights

"Kate…Katie…KATELYN MARSHALL!" I jumped about a million feet in the air before falling to the ground, landing flat on my back.

"Ugh. I hate you," I mumbled to whoever it was that decided to wake me up.

"I love you too," Paul said back cheekily. My eyes snapped open and zeroed in on him. Huh. Forgot he was here. I sat up and tucked my legs under me, too lazy to actually get up and get back onto the couch. I unintentionally let my eyes roam and realized that I was still in the living room. I must have fallen asleep on the couch. And Paul was still shirtless. I did a mental happy-dance. It was all a bit foggy, but I tried to remember what had caused him to take off his shirt anyways. It was stained…because I was crying on it…because…

"Aw, hell," I whimpered, dropping back onto the floor with a thud.

"Katie! What's wrong?" Paul asked, concerned. His hands fluttered around uselessly until he decided to just pick me up. He scooped me into his arms and put me on his lap. "Are you okay?" He asked again. I smiled weakly at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him. He didn't look convinced. I sighed and continued reluctantly. "I just sort of remembered the whole 'my mom is visiting even though she doesn't really like me or any kind of boy who likes me and I forgot that she even existed while I was here but I guess she doesn't just go away if I do' thing." I took a deep breath, sort of confused at how I'd managed to get all that out without air. Paul laughed at my rant. I glared and him and turned away. I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed in frustration. He laughed again and pulled me tighter.

"You're cute when you're angry," he whispered. I huffed again.

"And you're unhelpful," I grumbled back. He just grinned and kissed my cheek.

"So, Julie gave me some details while you were sleeping…" He started, trailing off probably due to my expression. My eyes were wide and my face felt blanched. I didn't really think that details would be worked out _already._ I mean, my mom was always so busy. All that gave me less time to mentally prepare myself for a visit. I really had forgotten all about her over the past few weeks. It may not seem like such a long time just thinking it, but so much happened. To be honest, I was actually a lot happier here than I'd ever been at home. I should have felt bad about that. I should have called my mom every day, begging to come home. I should have hated anyone who lived here, simply for not being part of my home. But I didn't. I was actually starting to think of La Push as home, rather than Key West. I was starting to prefer the overcast skies and constant rain over the glaring sunshine. Most of all, I think I liked the people. No one was stuck up or proper. Everyone just did as they pleased and…I liked it. My friends were fantastic, my boyfriend was fantastic, and my life was fantastic. Freaking fantastic, to be exact. And yet, my mom just _had_ to come into the picture and shatter it all. Thanks, mom. Really appreciate it.

Well, I guess I couldn't direct all my bitterness at her. I was just bitter in general. Mostly because of the timestamp on everything I held close to my heart here. I hadn't noticed it before, probably because I had forgotten all of it. I was going to have to leave. I couldn't stay here forever, I wanted to move on in life. As much as I loved the way things were going right now, after I graduated, things would _have_ to change. And it was a terrible feeling knowing that the things you've just barely had a chance to get to love were non-permanent; temporary.

Worst.

Feeling.

Ever.

I sighed loudly and ran my hand over my face.

"Let me have it," I mumbled through my fingers. He chuckled at me and pried my hand from my face.

"It's not so bad, Katie. She'll get to meet me and she'll understand how awesome I am," he said with a smirk. I smiled weakly back at him and the amusement dropped from his face. Damn intuitive werewolf. "Katie, what's the real problem? I know you don't really care what your mom thinks. What's _actually_ bugging you?" I just stared back at him. I didn't want to remind him of our deadline; there was no sense in making him feel bad. "You can tell me, love…" he prodded.

"Fine," I sighed. "I just got to thinking about how long I can stay here."

"What do you mean?" He looked confused and his eyebrows pulled together. "I thought your mom was coming here, not that you were leaving." As soon as he said the word _leaving_ his frown deepened. Jesus, this was going to be hard.

"No, no. I'm not leaving," I reassured him quickly. After a moment of thought, I added, "yet."

"You're not making any sense. Did your mom tell you she was bringing you home? Because I won't let her, you need to be here with me, you belong here," he said quickly, growing agitated. I worked to calm him by placing my hands on either side of his face.

"I won't be leaving just yet. I just…I can't stay in La Push forever," I said reluctantly.

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with La Push. It's your choice, no one can force you to leave," he told me, missing the point entirely.

"Paul, La Push is great. For the time being. I have to stay here until I graduate at least. That's not a big deal. But by that time I'll be eighteen and free to do whatever I want."

"Yeah. So what's the problem?" He seemed to just be getting more and more confused. How could he not understand what I was getting at?

"I'm not going to get anywhere by staying here forever. I want to have a life, I want to see new places. I know those seem pretty far ahead. But even for right now, La Push can't give me what I need after high school. I want to go to university. _Real_ university, not community college," I stressed quickly, before he could offer that as an option. "I'm not saying that I want to leave you, I just don't see how I can always stay."

"But…Kate…What's so bad about not going to university? What about us? Isn't just this relationship enough for your life? What about starting a family, having kids? There's a lot here for you, Kate. It's not a wasteland," he said. I shook my head.

"There's nothing _bad_ about not going to university. I _like_ the idea of being with you. I realize that this relationship isn't just a fling, and I promise that I will always love you. But it's not about my decision being _not bad._ It's about what I want. And I want to go to university. I don't want to be a housewife. I don't want to stay here and raise a bunch of kids and go nowhere. It's not how I pictured my life turning out and that's not going to change anytime soon," I said sternly. I wasn't budging; I needed a life too. To my surprise, he started shaking. I leaped off his lap and stood in front of him. He was glaring at me, livid.

"You think being with me is going _nowhere?_" He growled.

"No, that's not what I said. I just –" He cut me off.

"You're not even willing to think of how this might affect me? You don't care if you're hurting me by saying that? You don't care about _us_?"

"Of course I care! I was –"

"How can you even _think_ that I don't want you to have a life? All you want is –"

"DON'T YOU DARE PUT WORDS IN MY MOUTH, PAUL," I shouted back. I was sick of him making me look like the bad guy. "I didn't say _any _of that! I just want to go places! Is that so bad? Are you seriously telling me that my dreams should be put on the back burner so I can stay here? What, you're not going to be here when I come back? I love you, but if you don't even think you could wait for me then maybe this really _is_ going nowhere, imprint or not!" He was still shaking, but his jaw was dropped in shock.

"Kate, you know I love you too. Don't be ridiculous –"

"No. Paul, I'm not being ridiculous. _You _are. Sorry that you didn't imprint on the right girl," I spat. I knew I was going too far but I couldn't seem to stop. "Sorry that your girlfriend refuses to just sit around and wait for you to do everything. Sorry that I want to have a _life._" I sneered at him, my chest rising and falling as I breathed hard. "Why don't you just leave, Paul? Go find some other girl that fits into what you've already got planned for me." He shook harder at my words.

"Katie. Stop. There's no use fighting over this," his eyes began to soften, but there was still anger present on his face. "I love you."

"I'm seriously beginning to doubt that," I mumbled. It wasn't true at all, it just sort of slipped out. I knew he loved me. He just irritated the crap out of me. I felt him stiffen against me. Oh no. Why did I have to love the guy that hears _everything_? Not fair. Not fair at all.

"If you actually believe I don't love you, then I might as well leave. Maybe you're right. Maybe this imprint isn't all it's cracked up to be." I openly stared at him. Wasn't he supposed to defend himself? I was _not_ expecting him to agree. Hurt, angry, and shocked, I got defensive and did what I do best: I pushed him away.

"Fine. Then you might as well leave," I said mock-calmly. Inside I was totally freaking out. This isn't what I wanted; at this point, I couldn't even remember what that was to begin with.

"Have a nice life," he sneered. "Oh, by the way, your mom is coming in a week." He got up off the couch and walked past me, right out the door. He didn't even look back. I stared blankly at the now closed door, not sure how to react. I couldn't make sense of everything running through my head. Tears started to flow down my face and my breath hitched. After about two more seconds of nothingness, it all exploded. I cried hard, the harsh sobs reverberating loudly through my empty house.

He didn't want me?

**PAUL POV**

It's official. I'm an idiot.

So what if she told me to leave? So what if she wants to have a life away from me? I deserve happiness too. I should march right back in there – I stopped myself. What was the use? It didn't matter what I wanted. Only what she wanted.

But was this really right? I was halfway down the street and I could hear her sobbing. This couldn't possibly make her happy! She wouldn't cry about it if it did. I think. Girls are so confusing. But, I guess, as confusing and awful as it is to try and figure them out, I wouldn't trade mine for the world. She was so perfect. She was beautiful, kind, smart, funny…everything I need. Most of all, she needs me too. You couldn't possibly imagine how good it felt to have your imprint love you back. It's the best thing I've ever felt. Aside from Kate. I snickered to myself. If she were here, she'd probably know exactly what I was thinking. And then smack me upside the head for it. And I'd love it.

_If she were here…_

Ugh! I had to stop this. I couldn't keep dragging myself down; my courage was wearing thin. How long could I last like this? I knew from the pack mind how hard it was to be separated from your imprint, but the guys' memories didn't do it justice. It was excruciating. It felt like my heart was literally being yanked in the direction of her. It was even worse, now, hearing her cry and knowing I couldn't just jump through her window and comfort her, maybe crack a joke at her expense. I would do anything to see her smile, hear her laugh. I lived for those moments and I probably always would. Maybe that's why it hurt so much to hear her say she wanted to leave. Didn't I mean anything to her? I mean, she was my everything. How could she feel any different? I thought that was how an imprint worked: she loved me and I loved her. We get married and live happily ever after. The end. But, apparently, things didn't work that way. I knew it was stupid to try and convince her she was being crazy. She never was crazy, she's the smartest girl I know. I should have guessed that acting all protective and pushing her in the other direction was a bad move. That girl was stubborn, maybe even worse than me. But I just couldn't lose her! I would die without her, and I really doubted that she would be all for me following her around like a lost puppy. She's too independent for that.

A horn honked and I realized I was standing in the middle of the street, staring off into space. I sheepishly jogged onto the sidewalk and started to leave before hesitating. I could hear her choking out little cries. I could almost see her cute little nose all red, her cheeks flushed and her beautiful blue eyes filled with tears. I bet if I were there, she'd be embarrassed at letting me see her like this. I understood why, no one looked their best after crying. But she'd always be beautiful to me.

_If I were there…_

God damnit! I couldn't handle it. So I started running; a slow jog at first, enough to make a human break a sweat, until I broke out into a full out run. I didn't even know where I was going. I just couldn't stand to hear her in agony anymore. I pushed my legs harder, trying to get the burn in my muscles to overshadow the tugging at my heart to turn around and run _to_ her, not _away_ from her. I ignored it and finally looked around. I was in the centre of La Push. After a little deliberation, I decided to go to Sam, my Alpha. He'd know what to do. After all, Emily was almost as hard-headed as Kate was. Almost. Finally, I reached their little house that Em spent all her time taking care of and rapped harshly on the door. A little bit of paint chipped off and sprinkled to the floor. Oops. I quickly shuffled apart the evidence with my shoe as the door opened. Sam was standing there, looking confused. I knew what I looked like right now. Probably like a crazy person. But I didn't care; I needed help, and I needed it now.

"Paul? What's wrong? Come in," Sam said, moving aside to let me through. I nodded at him, giving him a tense smile.

"Kate hates me," I blurted out as I sat down on his sofa. He froze in the middle of sitting down and cocked an eyebrow at me.

"I doubt that," he said. He unfroze and sat fully on his arm chair, completely at ease. The complete opposite of me.

"Don't. She sent me away," I moaned. Just saying the words made it hurt that much more. "She told me to leave. She doesn't want to be with me anymore."

"What did you do?" I should have been offended, but I wasn't. There were too many emotions running through me at the time as it was. I didn't have any more room.

"I just told her I wanted to always stay with her!" Okay, so that wasn't entirely true. But I wanted to keep at least a bit of my dignity. I wasn't willing to say that I nearly cried like a girl when she said she wanted to move out of La Push.

"So, she has commitment issues?" He wondered.

"No. She doesn't have _any_ issues," I snarled. His eyebrows hit the roof as he held his hands up in defence. I clenched my fists, holding myself back.

"Woah, woah. Calm down there. Just asking. So what's the problem then?" I sighed and dropped my face into my hands. I guessed it was about time to fill him in.

"She wants to go to university. She wants to live somewhere else," I explained.

"I understand," he said sympathetically. "But you need to suck it up." I looked up, shocked. This was _not_ the kind of advice I was going for. More like, '_oh, sure Paul, I'll go talk to Katie and convince her to take you back and stay with you forever.'_

"What do you mean!? Are you crazy? I can't just _suck it up_!"

"Yes you can. You can't expect her to give up her whole life for you."

"But…" I started in a weak voice. "I can't let her be away from me. I'll die." He smiled sadly.

"I know how you feel. I've imprinted too right?" I grimaced. I wasn't in the mood for a Sam and Emily mushy love story. "No really," he insisted, catching my look. "I get it. You feel like your entire heart is exploding, like it's ripping and twisting and pulling you in her direction." I nodded.

"Exactly. And I can't handle that!"

"Know what's worse?" I shook my head 'no.' "It's even worse to have her hurting. To know that you could've helped her, made her happy, but you didn't. And that's what will happen if you hold her too close. She needs room to live, she'll be happier that way." I groaned and ran a hand over my face. His advice made sense, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear it. I nodded at him mutely and left. As I shuffled over the gravel road, kicking rocks in every direction, I thought about Kate. I thought about her smile, her laugh, the way she crinkled her nose up when I said something crude and the way she drummed her skinny little fingers on almost any flat surface when she was thinking. I thought about the way her face lit up when I showed up and the way it dropped when I left. Without meaning to, I thought of her tears. My chest felt like it was ripping apart. I knew what I had to do: Kate had to be happy. So I'd give her space, just like Sam said. I mean, she wouldn't push me away if she wanted me to stick around and beg, right? Well, that was my rationale anyways. I would have to keep a bit of distance and let her live her life. After all, that was much more important than what happened to me. She would always overrule everything.

Even if it tore me apart.

**A/N: IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! IT REGARDS THE FUTURE OF FP!!!**

**Hey guys! Sorry again for the astoundingly slow update. I've been hit with a major case of writer's block. Sorry to you all, but I think I'm going to need a bit of time off from this story. I messed up my whole plot outline and the story sort of went off track. It's extremely frustrating, but I'll work it out eventually! In the mean time, anyone who hasn't already should subscribe to updates for this story. I don't know how often or how regularly I'll update, so I'd hate to leave anyone hanging. I'm working on a couple other mini stories at the moment, so I'll post whatever I come up with ASAP! Sorry again, I promise I'll get writing as soon as I get past the writer's block! :( **

**Lots of love and apologies,**

**Sarah Yoko!**


	13. Phone Calls and Security Guards

**A/N: WRITERS BLOCK BROKEN :D **

'**nuff said.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Kate, Kate's mom, Aunt Julie, and the plot. Stephenie Meyer owns anything you recognize.**

Chapter 13: Phone Calls and Security Guards

_**Last Chapter:**_

"_I know how you feel. I've imprinted too right?" I grimaced. I wasn't in the mood for a Sam and Emily mushy love story. "No really," he insisted, catching my look. "I get it. You feel like your entire heart is exploding, like it's ripping and twisting and pulling you in her direction." I nodded._

"_Exactly. And I can't handle that!"_

"_Know what's worse?" I shook my head 'no.' "It's even worse to have her hurting. To know that you could've helped her, made her happy, but you didn't. And that's what will happen if you hold her too close. She needs room to live, she'll be happier that way." I groaned and ran a hand over my face. His advice made sense, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear it. I nodded at him mutely and left. As I shuffled over the gravel road, kicking rocks in every direction, I thought about Kate. I thought about her smile, her laugh, the way she crinkled her nose up when I said something crude and the way she drummed her skinny little fingers on almost any flat surface when she was thinking. I thought about the way her face lit up when I showed up and the way it dropped when I left. Without meaning to, I thought of her tears. My chest felt like it was ripping apart. I knew what I had to do: Kate had to be happy. So I'd give her space, just like Sam said. I mean, she wouldn't push me away if she wanted me to stick around and beg, right? Well, that was my rationale anyways. I would have to keep a bit of distance and let her live her life. After all, that was much more important than what happened to me. She would always overrule everything._

_Even if it tore me apart._

**KPOV**

This was tearing me apart.

I paced around my room like a caged animal, tearing at my hair. Tears streamed endlessly down my face; I didn't really even notice them anymore. I sat down on my bed with a huff and dropped my face into my hands. My hand itched to pick up my phone and call the one person I wanted to talk to: Paul. But I knew I couldn't.

God, I was such an idiot. What was I doing, sending Paul away like that? Looking back, I really couldn't figure it out. I mean, sure, he could be arrogant and annoying at times. He always thought he was right. He was ridiculously hard-headed and infuriating and presumptuous and loads of other things that really bugged me. But right now, I couldn't find the anger that I had felt earlier; I couldn't even take myself seriously as I listed off almost every one of his faults. He was lots of awful things, but those were essentially all overshadowed by things I adored about him. He was caring and funny. He always made me smile. He really listened to me. He thought about me and always made an effort to make me happy, putting my wellbeing over his own every time. And, most importantly, he loved me. And I loved him back.

But now that was broken; he didn't want me after all the horrible things I'd said to him. He told me that this imprint wasn't "all it's cracked up to be." Maybe he was right. After all, I really wasn't being a good imprint right now. I'd hurt him and sent him away. And what awful timing, too. My mother was coming in just a few days now and I wouldn't have anyone behind me; I wouldn't have anyone to hold me at the end of the day and tell me everything was alright. And it was completely my fault. He _shouldn't _want me. He _shouldn't _come back. He was the gorgeous, easy-going, insanely lovable man, and what was I? I wasn't anything special; I was just sort of average. I didn't deserve him in the first place. Maybe I should just let him go. I let myself drop back against my pillow with an aggravated sigh, my tears increasing in speed to the point that everything was just a blurry mess. Just the thought of him not being mine, of him with _someone else_ made my chest ache in the worst way possible. My heart felt like it was about to explode in my chest and my throat felt tight. I took as deep a breath as I could muster through my silent sobs and tried to collect my thoughts. Tearing myself apart for what I couldn't change wasn't helping anything. After all, hindsight's a bitch.

Okay, so, he left. He left _angry_, might I add. And he hadn't come back. That had to mean something, right? Judging by the way he was shaking when he slammed my door meant that he was probably still mad at me. Maybe I should have apologized. I could have been the peacemaker; I could have stopped this whole thing. But was that really fair to me? How was it helping anything if all I did was let these things go? I _did_ want to go to university; I _did_ want to see the world. Apologizing would be settling, and I wouldn't do that. Not for anyone. Besides, he could come to me just as easily as I could go to him. It didn't have to be so one-sided; if he wanted our fight to end, then _he _could come apologize. So there.

My mind was made up, but I didn't feel any happier. Oh, well. I refused to be the weak link in this relationship. I was always a pretty damned independent person. Was I wrong to say that that was not going to change for a boy, whether he be the love of my life or not? The feminist in me replied with a resounding "no". The whole "my heart is exploding" thing was hard to deal with and not in the least bit fun, but I'd have to endure it. After all, I'd gotten on fine without him before and I'd be fine without him now. My mind agreed wholeheartedly with that statement, but my heart was making it hard to accept. Maybe it was the fact that I knew what it was like to have him that made it so hard now. I was fine when I had no idea, probably because I didn't know what I was missing.

"Katie?" I heard Julie's timid voice from outside my room. I sighed. I felt bad for locking her out and going into isolation mode, it wasn't her fault I was depressed.

"Yeah?" I answered back just as timidly. There was a pause, as if she hadn't actually expected me to answer. Which wasn't a surprise really; she had no doubt heard my sobbing earlier.

"Are you okay?" I scoffed tearfully then sniffed a little. God, I even _sounded_ pathetic.

"No, I'm not," I said as harshly as I could, though it came out a little softer through the lump in my throat.

"Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to call him and –"

"No," I cut her off quickly. "I…I can handle it. Don't call…him…or anyone else. I'll be okay." I sniffled again.

"Okay sweetie…" I could hear Julie's footsteps retreating down the stairs, leaving me to my misery.

***

I spent the next several days avoiding anything that reminded me of Paul. I didn't call anyone, I didn't do anything. I wallowed. Thankfully, Paul never showed up at school. Though I was happy not to have to confront the issue at hand just yet, it was bittersweet. I wanted him to come and beg for me back, or at least to look as depressed as I felt. But as it was, there was no way of telling how he was coping. I told myself that he had to be in the same boat as me. After all, he imprinted on me. Shouldn't he feel my pain? What if he could un-imprint or something? Is that what he did? _No,_ I told myself. _That's ridiculous. _But I couldn't help but feel anxious.

So anxious, in fact, that I lost track of the days.

Needless to say, when the doorbell rang that evening, I was anything but prepared. I sat on the couch, mindlessly flipping through channels on the TV. Most of the things I did lately were mindless; thinking in general only brought me back to the one person I couldn't afford to think about right now. Julie bustled past me and opened the door. I glanced over the back of the couch to see a fake smile on her face. It looked almost pained.

And then came my moment of sudden realization.

_Oh no,_ I internally moaned. I had completely forgotten about my mother's pending visit. I could _not_ deal with this right now. Realistically though, I knew I didn't have much of a choice. My mother stepped into the house and pushed her sunglasses (who needs those here?) up onto her head as she looked around with distaste. As her eyes finished their inspection, they landed on me and she frowned. I automatically frowned in response. What was wrong?

"Hi honey," she said, still grimacing. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I mumbled back and looked down.

"Are you sure? You look terrible." I scoffed. Thanks, mom. "You're not wearing any makeup, your hair is a mess, and what _on earth_ are you wearing?" I looked down at my stained t-shirt and worn pajama pants. Oh, right. Wallowing clothes.

"I'm fine," I assured her with a sigh.

"Is it that _boy_ of yours?" She asked, disgusted. I was a bit offended by the implication in her tone, but that feeling was quickly overridden by the pain in my chest as my heart cracked down the middle. I visibly winced.

"They had a bit of a fight," Julie mumbled when it became clear I wasn't going to say anything.

"This is what _always_ happens, Julia," my mother said, the patronization clear in her voice. "She always picks the worst boys, and never understands why they treat her so badly. She could do so much better. But, if she keeps putting herself in these situations, maybe she doesn't deserve any better after all." She sniffed. As I tried to pick my jaw up off the floor, my mind was working a mile a minute. What kind of mother says that about her daughter? Especially with that daughter in the room? Don't most moms want the absolute best for their kids, unwilling to settle for anything less? Julie looked appalled and mortified.

"Mom!" I sputtered eventually. "How could you _say_ that? Besides, we're just fighting! No one is treating me badly, and I haven't gotten into any _situation_," I sneered. She rolled her eyes as if _I_ were the immature one.

"Regardless, Katelyn," she continued as if I hadn't spoken. "I think you're going to have to come home." Julie and I both stared at her. She couldn't be serious.

"Mom…this _is_ my home," I protested quietly. As I said the words, they felt right. It really was home to me, and if I was leaving, I wasn't going without a fight.

"This isn't your home, Katelyn. Key West is your home. This whole arrangement clearly isn't working out, if your current state is any evidence. And from what I can see, your attitude hasn't changed in the least. There is no use in you staying here if we can discipline you at home without you being in Julia's hair."

"She's no problem at all. I like having her around, actually," Julie inputted quickly. Good to know she was on my side.

"She's not your child," my mother sneered. "She's coming home with me. Tomorrow." Julie gasped as I let out a little startled squeak. Tomorrow? I couldn't leave tomorrow! What about La Push? What about school? What about _Paul_? How was I going to work this out with him if I was a million miles away? How could she do this to me?

"No, I'm not, mom!" I tried to sound firm and failed miserably. I was only sixteen; there was nothing I could do if she chose to take me to Key West.

"Yes, you are," she said sternly, enunciating each letter. "Now go pack. I've already bought the tickets and they're non-refundable. I'm not willing to miss the flight tomorrow morning because of you taking your good, sweet time." Tomorrow _morning_. I wouldn't even have a final day in La Push. Still slightly in shock, I did as she asked and slowly made my way up the stairs to what wouldn't be my room for much longer. This wasn't going to work. If I left things as they were, I was going to lose Paul forever. I'd probably never even be back to see Aunt Julie if my mom could help it. I snapped out of my stupor and realized that I had things to do. I threw my pride to the wind and yanked my cell phone out of my pocket, scrolling quickly through the contacts, finding the number, and pressing the little green button. I held it up to my ear, the ringing sounding sluggish and taunting. I got voicemail.

"_Hey, you've reached Paul. Uh, leave a message…Okay, bye," _BEEP.

"Paul? It's me," I said, then rethought it. "It's Kate," I clarified. "I need to talk to you. Right now. Please come over, it's important." I snapped the phone shut and looked at the time. It was just after eight o'clock at night; where was he? After a few more desperate calls, I gave up, concluding that he was likely avoiding me. I packed up my clothes silently, Julie arriving soon after and helping without a word. I assumed my mother was set up either on a couch or in Julie's room, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I didn't want to feel anything right now. After god-knows-how-long of putting everything I had into one suitcase or another, Julie gave me a sympathetic smile and left. I sat down on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. The stress bubbled up inside me as I realized how hopeless this situation was. I had to leave tomorrow, there was no way to contact Paul, and there would be no making up after tomorrow morning. I was doomed. I curled up on my side on the bed, thankful for the wallowing clothes that doubled as sleepwear, and cried. I cried hard until my head was pounding and my throat ached, and I eventually fell asleep.

The next morning was hellish and rushed. I ate breakfast slowly, not in the mood to be awake, much less eating. It was around seven in the morning. Apparently, my mother had called the school last night and arranged for my transcripts to be delivered back to my old school in Key West, and had called the shipping company ahead of time so we could drop off my bigger things today and have them a few days after we arrived in Florida. If only everything was that way. I wish I could just make a few calls, sign a few papers, and have my entire life moved with me. But sadly, this was not the case. I was leaving behind the giant mess I had made, with no opportunity in my near future to come back and fix it. I made one last attempt to contact Paul. I hadn't told him what was happening before now, as it seemed too impersonal to tell him that through a cell phone. But now I had no other choice. As I heard the voicemail message that I'd nearly memorized at this point, I let a few more tears escape and prepared to leave the last message I'd be able to send.

"Paul, I need you," my voiced cracked. "I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say. But my mom came last night…and I'm leaving. She's taking me back to Florida, and there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry this happened to us, I hope I'll see you again eventually…I…I love you Paul, and I hope you still love me. Goodbye," and I hung up. I wiped away the tears and stood up, putting my breakfast dishes in the sink. I walked into the hallway to see Julie and my mom both there, neither showing emotion nor looking at each other. I turned to Julie.

"Bye, Julie. I'll miss you, I'll try to visit if I can. Thanks for taking me in, I'll never forget it," her eyes were shining and she hugged me, knowing just as well as I did that this would be the last time we saw each other for quite a while. She nodded and covered her mouth with her hand as she released me. I turned to my mother and shot her the coldest glare I could muster. I grabbed two suitcases and dragged them out the door. I could hear her say her quick goodbyes to Julie as I shoved the bags roughly into the trunk and stomped over to the passenger side of the car, jumping in and slamming the door behind me. My mom entered much more quietly and started the car as I crossed my arms over my chest defensively. I didn't care if I was acting like a brat; it was my last resort, though I knew it wouldn't work. I smiled and waved lightly at Julie as she watched us leave, and she waved just as weakly back.

I was really leaving. And Paul hadn't come.

It was a silent drive to the airport, though the silence was anything but comfortable. You could cut the tension with a knife. As we unloaded the bags, checked in, and went through security together, neither of us uttered a word. We reached the gate just as it began boarding and, with one last glance backwards, I stepped onto the plane and out of the world as I knew it.

**PAUL POV**

After a long night of running the borders, I collapsed into bed. The beeping of my cell phone indicating a low battery woke me up around nine the next morning. I groggily plugged my phone in to see what I had missed. Kate had called me while I was on patrol.

Nine times.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't ecstatic. I missed her, and it was a good feeling to know she missed me. Sam had told me to give her space, but I couldn't think that was the right choice anymore. Her happiness came first, and, judging from my phone receiving so many calls, she wasn't happy. I noticed then that each call came with a voicemail. I started to get worried. Kate _never_ left voicemail; she always just called and hung up, knowing I'd contact her the second I saw that I missed a chance to talk to her. I quickly dialled my inbox to check my messages. The little electronic voice read out the time and date it was sent.

"_Paul? __It's me…it's Kate. I need to talk to you. Right now. Please come over, it's important._"

"_Hi, Paul. Um, I know we're supposed to be mad at each other but I need to talk to you. Please call me."_

"_It's Kate again…Are you avoiding me? I mean, I won't be mad if you are, just please realize that I actually need you. It's urgent."_

"_Come on, Paul! This is getting ridiculous. Grow a pair and call me back." _I snorted at that one.

"_I'm sorry. I'm just getting stressed out. Please, please, please call me or come over or something. This is desperate."_

"_PAUL! Come over now! I need you really badly right now! Why won't you pick up?"_

"_Okay…I guess you hate me now. Alright, I understand. I won't call you anymore."_

"_I lied, I thought you'd call back after that last one. Paul, you don't understand. This is a matter of life or death." _Finally, there was one more from this morning. My heart imploded as I heard it.

"_Paul, I need you. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say. But my mom came last night…and I'm leaving. She's taking me back to Florida, and there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry this happened to us, I hope I'll see you again eventually…I…I love you Paul, and I hope you still love me too. Goodbye." _

Oh no. Oh, no, no, no. This couldn't be happening. The message was sent over two hours ago; she had left already. I dropped my phone on the floor and ran out of the room. As I finally got outside I exploded, my clothes tearing. Shit. I looked around and grabbed the pair of shorts I kept for situations like this with my teeth and took off. I could hear the concerned voices of the rest of the pack in my head, but I couldn't care less. I ran as hard as I could towards Port Angeles where the airport was. I knew it was an hour-long drive from La Push, so that meant I could run it in about half an hour. Hopefully security stalled her enough, but I knew my chances were slim. I let out an agonized howl.

I got to Port Angeles a few minutes less than my prediction and ran into the forest bordering the downtown area. I phased back surprisingly quickly and pulled on the shorts. I ran out into the street, not caring that I was shirtless and shoeless. I finally made it to the airport and rushed up to the nearest information desk.

"When's the next plane to Key West leaving?" I barked at the attendant, startling her. She had not heard me approach.

"Uh…I think there's one leaving with American Airlines from Gate 17 in a few minutes, but it's boarding now. It's much too late, especially without a ticket. Would you like me to book the flight after that?" She said all of this with wide eyes, probably at my furious expression. I growled wordlessly and ran towards the security gates. I didn't really think it through; I tried to push my way past. Several security guards swarmed me. I could break their grasp easily, but not without drawing unwanted attention. I searched beyond the gates for Gate 17, hoping beyond all hope that I could spot Kate. Finally, as I found the right waiting area, I watched as the bright blue eyes and light brown hair I cherished most in the world turned away from me, into the gate and out of my life.

"KATE!" I called desperately, but it was no use. I wasn't getting through security, and she could never hear me. "KATE! PLEASE, KATE!" I screamed louder, nearly sobbing.

I watched in disbelief as her head whipped around and her beautiful eyes zeroed in on my face. She stopped in the doorway to the plane as I let out a contented, relieved sigh and stared at her. "Kate," I whispered again.

She smiled, and the whole world was right again.

**A/N: Sorry guys! I finally got my mojo back! I've got exams coming up, so don't expect another update too soon, but rest assured that I'm working on one! Let me know what you think, thanks for staying with me. This isn't the last chapter, but it's almost done. Only a few more chapters, then maybe I'll start something new:)**

**I almost left this one as a cliffy, but I figured you guys would kill me, and you deserved a little something for your patience.**

**Love, **

**Sarah Yoko!**


	14. Confrontations and Happiness

**A/N: We're getting close to the end! I know it's been a while, but things have been pretty crazy.**

_**NOTE!!!!!! LAST CHAPTER BEFORE THE EPILOGUE, SO NO, FOLKS, WE'RE NOT QUITE DONE YET!!!**_

**Minor swearing in this chappie (VERY minor), just making sure everyone's aware! So, without further ado, onto chapter 14!**

_**Paul POV**_

"_When's the next plane to Key West leaving?" I barked at the attendant, startling her. She had not heard me approach. _

"_Uh…I think there's one leaving with American Airlines from Gate 17 in a few minutes, but it's boarding now. It's much too late, especially without a ticket. Would you like me to book the flight after that?" She said all of this with wide eyes, probably at my furious expression. I growled wordlessly and ran towards the security gates. I didn't really think it through; I tried to push my way past. Several security guards swarmed me. I could break their grasp easily, but not without drawing unwanted attention. I searched beyond the gates for Gate 17, hoping beyond all hope that I could spot Kate. Finally, as I found the right waiting area, I watched as the bright blue eyes and light brown hair I cherished most in the world turned away from me, into the gate and out of my life._

"_KATE!" I called desperately, but it was no use. I wasn't getting through security, and she could never hear me. "KATE! PLEASE, KATE!" I screamed louder, nearly sobbing. _

_I watched in disbelief as her head whipped around and her beautiful eyes zeroed in on my face. She stopped in the doorway to the plane as I let out a contented, relieved sigh and stared at her. "Kate," I whispered again._

_She smiled, and the whole world was right again._

Chapter 14: Confrontations and Happiness

**KPOV**

As I stepped into the gate, I couldn't help but remember my short time here. It felt so cliché to be reflecting right before I stepped on a plane, but I couldn't help it. After all, my life was an awful lot like a bad supernatural-romance movie lately. Might as well stick with that theme. I remembered being picked up by Jake in the airport. I remembered first meeting the pack, and the horrible impression Paul had left me with. I remembered him essentially following me around and breaking my elbow and forearm trying to get him to leave me alone. I remembered getting mauled by Leah and finding out everyone's secrets the hard way. Most of all, I remembered the feeling I had after giving into Paul's affection, allowing myself to love him after fighting so hard to keep him the hell away from my heart. At that moment, that heart promptly broke in two at the notion of never feeling that love again; never being as real or happy or…_whole_ as I was when I was with Paul. La Push had become my home, and no one was here to beg me to stay.

That stung just a little bit.

My mom walked ahead of me and into the hallway before the plane. I took a deep breath and stepped forward. That's when I heard it. It was just a faint voice. It sounded like someone calling for me, but "Kate" was such a common name that I ignored it. I heard it again and felt the familiar tingle that I had come to associate with the only person I wanted to see right now. Paul. As I whirled around to find the voice I was sure I heard, I mentally berated myself for being so deluded as to think that Paul was actually in the airport. I knew he wasn't; he probably hadn't actually checked his messages and didn't even know I was leaving. But either way, I had to confirm with my own two eyes that he wasn't there and never would be again. My eyes were immediately drawn to the swarm of security personnel crowded around a tall body…a tall, tan, shirtless body. _No way._ My eyes snapped up to the face and I felt my whole body relax. _Paul. Paul was here. He came for me, he loves me. _He was struggling against all of the airport security, fighting not to get dragged away and, hopefully, trying to stop me from leaving. Even though I couldn't hear him, I could clearly make out the relieved, hopeful expression on his face as he mouthed my name. I smiled hugely and saw him stop fighting. He had a goofy grin on his face that surely mirrored mine, and I realized what I had to do.

"Katelyn," my mother called from the gangway. "Katelyn Marshall, I expect you to board this plane _right now_. I'll have no more stalling; we're leaving whether you like it or not." I ignored her. Dropping my carry-on at my side, I took off running away from the gate while my mother continued to screech after me. It didn't matter; nothing mattered anymore except getting back into Paul's arms. He grinned wider as security looked at him oddly, probably wondering why he'd stopped struggling. I was finally only a few feet away and I launched myself at him, grateful for the strength that allowed him to catch me after my super-human tackle. I probably would have brought any lesser man to the ground with it. He wrapped his arms tightly around me as I dangled above the ground, burying my face in his neck. He squeezed me tighter and I felt my ribs protest, but I really didn't care.

"Katie," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear.

"You came," I whispered back. "You came back for me." He pulled me back so he could see my face and rubbed a thumb across my cheek. I hadn't even been aware that tears were streaming down my face. His eyes sparkled, and I knew exactly what he was feeling. He felt just as complete as I did, just as content to finally have me back in his arms as I was to have him in mine. I felt a blush spread across my face as I realized what we were doing. Once again, we were apparently following the whole cliché theme today. We were standing in an airport, reunited and in each other's arms. Oh god. I was abruptly embarrassed as our moment ended, and apparently Paul came to the same conclusion and reverently placed me back on my feet, not letting go until he was sure I had my footing. He chuckled quietly from above me, and I pulled my eyes away from him to glance behind me. Half the airport was staring at us; some seemed shocked, some were rolling their eyes, and some older couples were smiling and cooing at the sight of us. I covered my face with both hands and buried myself in Paul's chest as a light chorus of laughter resulted.

"Alright, guys, show's over," he announced loudly, the smile evident in his voice. There were a few residual chuckles and a whole lot of amused chatter as the audience we'd gained finally dispersed. We were still holding onto each other for dear life as that horrible, shrieking voice pierced into our little bubble of happiness and effectively smashed the moment to pieces.

"Katelyn! What did I tell you? We're leaving _now_ if you're done with your little romance over there," she called. I turned around to see my mother stomping towards us, her shoes snapping loudly against the commercial tiled floor. I sighed and Paul wrapped his arms around my midsection protectively.

"Meet my mother," I muttered under my breath to Paul, who growled deep in his throat in response. "And yes, she's as awful as she looks." He held me tighter as she finally reached us.

"Who are _you_," she sneered at Paul, who reflexively stood a little taller and puffed out his chest a bit. I covered his hand on my stomach with both of my own, a silent message to calm down. My mother's gaze instantly zeroed in on the contact. She sneered a little more.

"I'm Paul," he announced confidently. "Kate's boyfriend." I hated how trivial the word "boyfriend" sounded, but I didn't think my mother would appreciate me correcting him or offering more appropriate suggestions, like "imprint", "husband-to-be", or "destiny". That would just be more than a little awkward and extremely weird.

"So _you're_ the reason my daughter was in shambles when I came to visit her yesterday?" She asked harshly. I looked up at Paul to see him wince, probably not appreciating the mental image. I decided to step in before this got out of hand.

"Yes, he is," I told her, feeling Paul shift uncomfortably behind me. "But he's also the reason I was so deliriously happy while you were back in Florida, pretending you never had a daughter in the first place." I mentally patted myself on the back. Score one for Kate.

"He _hurt_ you and you're willing just to take him back like this? Don't you have any pride? Any self-worth at all? Or do you _enjoy_ being walked all over like you're nothing? After all, that's exactly what this boy is doing. Can't you see that? He doesn't care about you. No one ever will when you act the way you do," she snapped at me. Each word tore a little hole in my self-confidence. How could a mother say that about a daughter? "No one loves a girl who wants to be treated like a worthless piece of –"

"You're wrong," Paul broke in with an angry glare. "I _do_ love her. And yeah, she has self-worth. I care about her, and she doesn't let me walk all over her. Hell, at the beginning she wouldn't even let me walk _next_ to her. So maybe you should get to actually _know_ your daughter before to come around here making all these assumptions, when in real life, you don't know _shit._" My mother simply gaped at Paul, not knowing how to respond.

"Well, I…You…You don't even…" She stumbled, trying to find an appropriate rebuttal and failing miserably. Paul took advantage of her pause.

"That's what I thought. You have no idea what you're talking about, because none of those things you said are even remotely close to describing Kate. She's witty and confident and razor-sharp. She says what she wants because she knows who she is and isn't afraid to show it. _My_ Kate is the most beautiful girl in the world and could bring anyone to their knees, and I'm _lucky_ that she picked me. She's the centre of my universe and always will be. She had me from the moment I saw her, so don't you even _think_ about implying that she's anything less than perfect. After all, you wouldn't know perfect if it bit you in the ass. Your idea of this perfect mother you think you are couldn't be further from the truth. I can't imagine my parents even _thinking_ any of the things you just said to your daughter. You should be ashamed of yourself; you're a horrible parent and a horrible human being." I stared at him, half shocked and half pleased. I couldn't believe that he would say those kinds of things to my _mother_, but I also couldn't help but feel a little happy that he thought so highly of me and was brave enough to defend me against anyone. I really did love him.

"So, mom," I finally said as Paul's chest heaved in anger behind me. "I think you've heard enough. And I think, if you had any sense, you'd let me stay here in La Push. After all, it's pretty clear you have no clue who or what you're dealing with. You might as well give up on changing me to fit your perfect little life and let me at least be _happy _for once, like I am here." She huffed indignantly, unable to come up with an apt response.

"Fine," she barked. "But this isn't over. You're coming home sooner or later; you can't stay here forever." I smiled in response and settled against the solid weight of Paul behind me, drawing on his strength. I took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye.

"I'm already home, mom," I said. "And hopefully it won't take you forever to see that." With those words, Paul turned me around and, together, we left that airport, more content and strong than we'd ever been before.

~*~

"…And he was all, 'You're a bitch!' and she was all, 'Oh no!' and he was all, 'Uh-huh!' and then she was all, 'Okay I'll go home without you' and then we were happy and we partied," I told them all, grinning. The pack laughed, though I wasn't sure if it was at my exuberance or just the ridiculous way that story happened to come out. I couldn't help it; the giddiness was all-consuming. I got to stay in La Push, hopefully long-term this time.

"It wasn't _exactly_ like that, Kate," Paul stage-whispered to me. Everyone laughed again and I just grinned wider. "But it's close enough." We all sat in Aunt Julie's living room, the boys all piled onto the couches and spilling onto the floor, some with their respective imprints nestled safely into their laps like I was in Paul's. Julie came in with a monstrous platter of finger-foods and looked around for a place to put them. Emily stood up to try and help, but Sam held her fast. She conceded with a dramatic groan and settled back into Sam's embrace. He smiled and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. I watched it all unfold and looked up to see Paul observing too with an easy smile on his face. I hoped that someday we'd be like that too; they were so perfect for each other, and anyone could see the love in their eyes whenever they looked at one another. It was an awful lot less disgusting when I knew that it was possible for me. I tore my eyes away from the happy couple as their moment became a little too intimate. Yeah, I still had my limits.

I felt so…happy in this moment. I had everything I needed. I had the guys. I watched as the pack playfully pushed each other and fought over the food. I really did consider them somewhat like my big brothers now, and I knew they considered me a little sister. I had Julie, who was there for me as my substitute mom while my mother was emotionally unavailable and nowhere near me geographically either. And finally, I had Paul. He was my best friend and my love all in one tall, muscled package. I tossed a grape at him from a nearby tray as he caught it in his mouth and tossed one back at me affectionately. Suddenly, all the laughter stopped. It went deadly quiet as all of the wolves stiffened and sat up straight, leaving us imprints ten steps behind and wondering what we'd missed. I looked around, alarmed, until I realized that Sam was still looking relatively calm, even though he was shifting uncomfortably. Seth looked uncomfortable too, but, again, not angry or stiff like the others. Just then, I heard tires hit the gravel of the driveway. Growls emanated from every part of the room as feet crunched against the stones outside and the doorbell rang. Everyone stayed still; not even Julie moved to answer the door. Feeling like the weird one, I stood up and walked over to the door, peeking out the window. I rolled my eyes and looked at all of the wolves just sitting there, growling.

"Seriously, guys?" I asked as I swung the door open to reveal Alice, Edward, and Bella all standing outside looking rather awkward. That explained their reactions. Bella poked her head around the corner, taking in the shocked and angry faces of the pack. She shrunk back into Edward's side.

"Told you it wasn't a good idea," she muttered. Edward didn't answer; he just wrapped his arm around her. Alice, on the other hand, was a lot louder about the whole thing.

"KATIE!" She squealed. "I knew it would all work out!" She hugged me fiercely. When she finally let me go, she looked over my shoulder at Sam and Seth. "I told you so. God, why doesn't anyone listen to me here?" Everyone looked at her, confused. Sam looked sheepish.

"I may have…kind of…asked her how it would work out when Paul went running to the airport," he admitted. "She said it would work out fine, and I told her she could have a one-day free pass sort of thing onto the reservation to see Kate if it went well."

"It was my idea," Seth piped up. "All me! I'm the smart one here!"

"Shut up, Seth," Sam grumbled, pushing him off the couch. Bella and I both giggled.

"You're seriously just going to let them on the rez?" Jared finally asked, outraged. There was a chorus of agreement.

"If they're only helping out and Kate insists that they're trustworthy, I figure one day won't do any harm," Sam said, looking at the Cullens sternly. He turned his gaze on the pack. "I trust that there won't be any trouble from any of you." He finished off his statement with authority dripping from each word. Everyone looked at the Cullens warily, but eventually relaxed. I invited them in and took a place in front of Paul on the floor, leaning back against his knees. Alice folded herself down next to me easily, right in front of Seth. Edward took a recliner that Embry had just vacated in order to sit on the opposite side of the room. Bella sat in Edward's lap. An awkward silence ensued while everyone assessed the other, wondering what to do next.

"Well, this is awkward," I stated, earning a few smiles. "Maybe you guys should all learn to get along with each other, yes?"

"Why should we?" Quil grumbled. "It's not as if we have any reason to."

"Yeah, actually, you do," I argued. He looked at me curiously. "Because if you don't, Bella and I are boycotting all of you. Right Bella?" She giggled from Edward's lap, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly.

"Right," she said. Edward and Jake both looked at her, worried, while Alice and Paul had similar expressions as they regarded me.

"I don't really care," Jared said. "It really only sucks for them." He nodded his head towards Paul and Jake, who grimaced back.

"But do you really want to put up with their whining if we leave?" I asked. They all looked at me, horrified.

"Oh dear god, _no_!"

"Aw, hell no!"

"No! No, no, no!"

"Nah, they're whiny enough as it is!"

I laughed. Though it started off a little weirdly, the conversation eventually found a natural rhythm. It ebbed and flowed just like it would between old friends as Bella and I smirked conspiratorially at one another. I truly had found myself a home. Even though it may have been a little bit pathetic that I felt most comfortable with a group of mismatched supernatural creatures, I couldn't bring myself to care. I was blissful where I was, and I felt like I didn't have a care in the world. I knew that I'd made friends here in La Push that would last a lifetime, and I knew that I would have a chance at a real life with Paul once we were ready. Yeah, it was a little soon to make life plans, but I felt good not worrying about any form of impending doom for once. Everything was good, simple, and how it was meant to be. As I leaned back against Paul's knees and took in my giant dysfunctional family, I made my biggest revelation to date.

It was shocking just how truly happy I had become ever since I decided to stop fighting Paul.

**A/N: We're finally finished! Last is the epilogue, which will give us a little more on our favourite couple :) It sure was fun, I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Once again, though, don't forget about me, there's still one more thing to come. Feel free to submit any questions, concerns, compliments, or rude comments. I'm pretty open.**

**Love,**

**Sarah Yoko!**


	15. Epilogue

**A/N: *Sniff sniff* Well guys, this is it! The official last chapter of Fighting Paul. There probably won't be a sequel, but I'm not going to rule out the possibility. I'll likely get going on a new story after this, so be sure to sign up for author alerts! I just wanted to say thanks to all my faithful readers for following the story all this time. I love you all and I've really appreciated your comments and reviews and everything to keep me going :) Special thanks go out to my real-life friend musicrush93 for her non-stop support and constant verbal abuse about me updating, as well as her guilt-trips to make me feel bad about making you wait. Check out her stories, you'll love them :)**

**Without further ado, the epilogue!**

Chapter 15: Epilogue

_10 years later…_

**KPOV**

"Come on, guys, we're going to be late!" I yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," Paul yelled back, laughter evident in his voice. "They won't start without you, it's your party!" I mumbled incoherently as I got the diaper bag ready for the day. I heard a squeal and then a splat, and I sighed under my breath as I turned to assess the damage. Lucy was waving her little plastic spoon in the air, her baby food going flying and landing on the floor around her high chair. She grinned a toothless smile at me and I couldn't help but melt. She had the same colouring as Paul, with raven black hair and tanned skin, but she had my bright blue eyes. I was pretty sure that she'd break quite a few hearts as she got older. She was just under a year old, and I was trying to teach her how to feed herself. It wasn't going so well, obviously; she was just as stubborn as her father.

At that moment, Paul and the boys came thundering down the stairs, laughing. Paul was chasing them as they screamed delightedly. He had his hands up in the air, his fingers forming claws as he did a rather convincing impression of a monster. He caught them both, one under each arm, and tossed them on the sofa, proceeding to tickle them as they laughed happily. I smiled at the sight.

They were identical twins, both 3 years old, but they couldn't be more different. Zach was a lot like me; he was a lot quieter and more even tempered, and he smiled all the time. He was probably the happiest kid I'd ever seen. Caden, on the other hand, was a mini Paul. He was loud and feisty and always wanted to be in charge. With their opposite personalities, they were quite a duo when they worked together to go exploring in the backyard or build forts. They were completely adorable. They had a strange mix of both Paul's and my characteristics; they had tan skin, but a little lighter than the pure Quileute boys. They had dark brown hair that was unruly just like Paul's, but not quite as dark. It was more of a mix between our shades. They were both a little tall for their ages, a sign that they wouldn't be cursed with my unfortunate shortness. The only real differences were their eyes: they could both be considered hazel, but Zach's were a little more on the green side while Caden's were a little more brown.

Paul scooped both of them up, slinging them over his shoulders as they struggled to escape, kicking their legs wildly but getting nowhere. He plopped them down in their chairs and went directly over to Lucy. As much of a hard-ass as Paul was, it was obvious that that little girl had him completely wrapped around her tiny fingers. He smiled softly at her as he took the spoon from her hand to feed her, laughing as the baby food came spilling back out as she continued grinning.

I turned back to the boys, who were engaged in a rather intense thumb-war, and saw how awful their previously groomed hair had become. I patted down Zach's, trying to smooth it out at least a bit. Caden ran his hands through his hair right then, messing it up even more; it was a habit he'd obviously picked up from his father. Lucy was squealing and babbling away to Paul, who listened intently to her nonsense and showered her with attention.

"You _had_ to mess up the hair, didn't you Paul?" I asked with a laugh, turning my attention to the rat's nest on Caden's head. He turned away from his well-spoiled daughter to grin at me.

"They looked like prep school kids, now they look cool!" He insisted. I laughed again and shook my head.

"They're _three,_" I told him. "They're too young to look like they're in school at all!"

"I won't have my sons having to suffer through the nerdy-ness forced on them by their mother!"

"They didn't look nerdy, they looked cute!"

"They still look cute!"

"Oh, shut up Paul." He just smirked again and turned back to Lucy, who was now hitting her tray and trying to get back her formerly captive audience. "Is she done eating yet?" In response, he held up the empty tray and went to get a facecloth, cleaning the food smeared on her face. She blew a spit bubble.

"Alright, boys," Paul announced loudly. "We're moving! Go, go, go!" Zach and Caden giggled and scrambled off their chairs, running to the front door to put on their shoes and coats. Paul picked up Lucy and then handed her to me. "Why do they all have to match?" He asked, gesturing to the boy's identical red sweaters and elastic-waist khaki pants, and then to Lucy's similar sweater and khaki skirt with bright red tights.

"It's what families with lots of tiny, cute babies tend to do. It's like team colours or something," I replied, my tone implying that it should be obvious. He rolled his eyes but grinned at me anyways.

"I love you, dorky tendencies and all," he told me, kissing me chastely on the cheek. I leaned into his kiss with a smile. My life had really become almost too good to be true. Today was my 26th birthday, and the last ten years had worked out like a story. Paul stopped phasing last year, trying to stay the same physical age as me so that we could grow old together. His aging obviously wasn't apparent yet and he still had a long ways to go before it was, but we knew that he wasn't going to stay young forever anymore. As much as I had liked the idea of Paul being hot and young until the day I died, I refused to live out the rest of my life as a cougar. That just wasn't my thing. The pack hadn't grown too much since, only two other teenagers had phased before the Cullens moved out of town. Paul wasn't really needed anymore, and I was happy that we could officially settle down.

While the number of werewolves hadn't grown, the population of werewolf families had exploded. Almost every imprint couple had kids by this point, except for Quil and Claire. That would still be gross. My mother had been more of a part of my life after I graduated from high school and turned eighteen. Things went much smoother when I didn't legally have to listen to her anymore, and we weren't fighting nearly as much. After I graduated, I stayed true to my promise to myself and went to university in Seattle for my teaching degree. I was now teaching at Forks Elementary School, a job I really and truly loved. Shortly after I graduated from university, Paul proposed. We got married that summer and soon the twins were conceived. I've never seen Paul as ridiculously proud as when he witnessed the birth of his three children. Good to know one of us was happy at the time.

I was snapped out of my reverie when Lucy started to tug on my hair. I cooed at her and stood up, handing her off to Paul so that I could put my coat and shoes on while he put on hers. The boys were engaged in what appeared to be a pretty epic staring contest. After a fair amount of bribing, manoeuvring, and manipulating, all three were strapped into their car seats and we were off to Emily and Sam's house, where my birthday party was being held. Even though I protested, they all insisted and I really had no choice in the matter. Once we arrived, we were ambushed by what appeared to be the entire reservation. The cute little house was jam packed, people sitting and standing on every available surface. Poor Emily. She came out the front door as I finished my thought, grinning from ear to ear at the sight of my kids. She had her youngest, Sophie, in a baby harness and strapped to her chest. Sophie was around the same age as Lucy, and I secretly hoped they would be friends growing up amidst all of the newest Quileute boys.

"Hey, Sophie," I said, leaning down to kiss her on her plump cheek as she smiled and drooled at me. I straightened to face Emily, who was still beaming. "She's getting bigger," I observed. She nodded enthusiastically.

"That's because you haven't been here in a while. If you were here more often, it wouldn't be such a big change," she told me, jokingly disapproving. "Anthony just graduated from kindergarten, so he's pretty excited to have fresh ears to tell about that." I laughed. Anthony was her second youngest, and Connor and Chris came before him. Connor was going into first grade, Chris into second. They were both adorable and were classic Quileute kids, since Sam was purely so and Emily was Makah, who were similar in looks. After Paul took the kids out of the car, we walked into the loud house. Quil and Claire were arguing about something, still maintaining their brother-sister friendship. Claire was, after all, still a little young. Embry and Tonya, his imprint, were dishing out food for their own kids. They had a boy and a girl, Aaron and Amy, who were four and three respectively. Tonya was a firecracker. She was loud, energetic, and fiercely loyal. Aaron was similar to her, while Amy was more reserved like Embry. Jared and Kim were lounging on the couch while Kim looked worriedly out into the backyard, where their three kids were playing. Seth was with his recent imprint, April, who didn't know about the whole werewolf thing and looked extremely uncomfortable. She was a petite blonde with grey eyes, and Seth absolutely adored her. She'd be family soon enough, though. Leah was nowhere to be seen, but I could clearly hear her laughing from the other room with her boyfriend, Rob. He also didn't know the secrets, but he was fitting in quite nicely with his tall stature and dark colouring. Colin and Brady were both still single and definitely not suffering as they playfully argued and joked. Jake, however, was noticeably absent. Paul, being as observant as he is, noticed my scan of the room and my subsequent question about Jake's whereabouts. I didn't even have to ask.

"He's out in Alaska, with the leeches," Paul muttered, leaning close to my ear so as not to draw attention to the conversation. He said the word 'leeches' venomously. "He's staying with his beloved little _Renesmee_." He still absolutely hated the idea of a werewolf-vamp union, even if the vamp wasn't really a vamp at all. He was disgusted by the pair, but he tried to keep it to himself. Pack drama was never a good thing. Over the next hour or so, I was bombarded with hugs and birthday wishes. I was happy to get back with all of my old friends again since Lucy had been taking up so much of my time. It did, however, get old after a while so I retreated to the kitchen to help Emily cook for everyone. I was surprised to find April in there as well, chatting with Emily with a worried look on her face.

"But how do you know?" She asked, her arms crossed protectively in front of her chest. Emily patted her arm reassuringly.

"You just do," she replied definitively. I decided that now was as good a time as any to make my presence known.

"Hey, guys," I said slowly, not sure if I was interrupting. By the way April jumped, I probably was.

"Hi," she mumbled, staring at her feet. I walked further into the kitchen, trying to ignore the awkward tension.

"What did I miss?" I wasn't trying to pry. Really, I wasn't. I'm just a naturally inquisitive person. Or, as Paul would tell you, "a really goddamned nosy" person. Whatever, same thing.

"Nothing," April muttered, still not making eye contact. She glanced up at Emily and nodded her head towards me while Emily sighed.

"She wanted to know if we knew anything about Seth," Emily told me, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "She was wondering if we thought he might like her." I held back my own smile and turned to April.

"Trust me, he likes you." I left no room for questioning. She questioned anyways.

"But you don't know that," she insisted. "What if I just put myself out there and he shoots me down? I'd be so mortified; I could never show my face in public again!" I scoffed a little at her dramatics.

"Just let it go. It'll all work out in the end," I told her.

"What if it doesn't? What if it's not meant to be?" Emily and I both snickered a bit, and she immediately looked stressed. "What? What's wrong? What don't I know?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know yet," I said as gently as I could, trying to not make it sound like an insult. She looked offended, so I clearly did something wrong with that one. Emily saved me.

"What she means is that we have reason to believe that it _will_ work out in the end, and that it really _is_ meant to be. So quit worrying about it and trust us," Emily said. Well, that came out a lot smoother than it would have had I said it. April looked reassured, and with a quiet thank you she meandered out of the kitchen, presumably to go find Seth. After a few moments, Emily spoke again. "I remember when that was me. It's all so confusing at the beginning, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I was definitely confused. But once you understand what's going on, everything is just so…nice, isn't it?" She nodded silently and continued preparing food as I reminisced. Things really _had_ been nice. Being an imprint was great that way. Sure, Paul and I had our fair share of fights, but they didn't come with the underlying worry that we would break up or anything like that. Knowing that your boyfriend or fiancée or husband would never – _could_ never – leave you was comforting. You didn't have to worry about what you looked like in the morning with dried drool on your face. You weren't always getting frustrated at him not calling you back or not wanting you anymore. You knew that, from the moment he saw you, it was set. Wham, bam, commitment. I had grown a lot over the years since I had met Paul, and I learned that giving in to him and the ridiculous amount of love that came with him wasn't wrong. It didn't mean that I was weak, and it didn't take away my choice. Being with Paul was a hell of a lot easier than trying to push him away constantly. After all, imprints were _supposed_ to be as easy as breathing. Once I let go of my pride and gave in to him, my life seemed much more…right. It was a great feeling.

Not only was the love part pretty awesome, it was also great to finally feel like I had a family again. Even if my parents and I got along better nowadays, that didn't take away the fact that we didn't really function at a family level. We acted like acquaintances; I would never go to them for advice on anything, and they would never expect me to. We still talked, but it wasn't the same as being with the pack. They somewhat acted as my surrogate family now. There was always trust, protection, and love when I was with my dysfunctional and slightly supernatural group, and that was something that I never realized that I had been missing until I finally had it. My only hope was that my own kids would never feel as lost as I did, since they would be growing up amongst the biggest, warmest family around.

With time comes maturity, growth, and changes. As days turn into years, everyone moves forward into new phases of their lives. From marriages and kids to new jobs and new friends, no one stays the same. We all learn a little, make mistakes and celebrate successes. I had learned over the years that the most important things in life were family, friends, and being truly happy. It didn't matter what people thought or expected of you. It wasn't important to always look perfect or to be in charge of every situation. It was okay to let go a little bit every once in a while, and at the same time it was alright to take control. In the end, one comes to realize that life is made up of moments that, when put altogether, form who you are. My main priority was to live every day to the fullest and to fill every day with the things I wanted in life. I wanted to make a good life for myself and my family and focus on the little details, since I knew they would eventually add up.

Aside from all of the philosophical, Chinese-proverb-esque crap that I had realized over time, I was now genuinely happy. I had everything I needed in life, and I couldn't ask for more. Were my friends and family perfect? No. Was Paul perfect? _Hell, _no. But none of that even mattered. Life was going by fast, and I wanted to make sure nothing passed me by. At this very moment, though, I just wanted to hang around with the people I loved the most, drinking cheap beer and eating junk, talking about nothing of importance and laughing at nothing at all. The rest of that stuff could wait, and when I was finally forced to face it, I knew I could. I had my friends, my family, and my soul mate by my side to handle anything that came my way. And really, when it came down to it, I was more than ready to kick life's ass.

**A/N: FINITO! We're officially finished with Fighting Paul. It's been a long time coming, I know. I hope you liked the epilogue. Once again, I don't plan on writing a sequel, for all of you who asked. I do, however, have some plans in the works for at least another one shot and possibly a full-length (and slightly angsty) chapter story. If you'd be interested in any of that, let me know and sign up for author alerts. Thanks to all of you who stuck with me through this agonizingly long process, and to those who threatened to kill me if I didn't post. I wouldn't have made it anywhere without you guys! Finally, yet another big huge massive thank you to my friend musicrush93 for all of her support. **

**Signing off from FP for all time (*sniffle*),**

**Sarah Yoko!**


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